Il Museo dell’Opera di Santa Croce a Firenze

by Ludovica Sebregondi

The Cenacolo di Santa Croce was built in the early decades of the 14th century and was the first part of the complex of Santa Croce to be used as an exhibition space in the 20th century. In 1962, when the museum was enlarged by adding other rooms, the hall was restored, uncovering the 14th-century pictorial decorations. It was then used to house the oldest works, which suffered severe damage—some of which irreparable—during the 1966 flood, when the museum of Santa Croce was termed the “epicentre of the disaster” and Cimabue’s Crucifix became the dramatic symbol of the catastrophe. The extraordinary work conducted by the restoration laboratories of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure and the Soprintendenze of Florence, in collaboration with the Opera di Santa Croce, has made it possible to recover numerous important works that, over the years, have been offered once more to the public. Ludovica Sebregondi has written the first detailed and updated guide to this fascinating historical venue, which is also illustrated through period photographs and splendid colour reproductions. The description of the rooms is accompanied by detailed entries on some of the museum’s most treasured works. In addition to Cimabue’s Crucifix, Santa Croce houses the funerary monument of Gastone della Torre by Tino di Camaino, detached frescoes by Giotto, Andrea Orcagna and Taddeo Gaddi, Donatello’s St Louis of Toulouse, Bronzino’s Descent of Christ into Limbo and Francesco Salviati’s Deposition. The guide also includes Lodovico Cigoli’s Trinity, Alessandro Allori’s Deposition and two 14th-century works of the Madonna and Child, which were returned to the museum following extensive restoration work.