I spent three months in Florence during 2020 and 2022 as a John Kinross Scholar supported by the Royal Scottish Academy. I wanted to find out more about the architectural designs of Leon Battista Alberti, a Renaissance polymath whose major works can be found in Florence, notably the trend-making façade of Santa Maria Novella, the palatial Renaissance townhouse of Palazzo Rucellai and the Rucellai family's tomb in the Rucellai Chapel, which is part of the old church building of San Pancrazio in the historical centre of Florence. This building became a focal point of my research in Florence.
The façade of Santa Maria Novella
Leon Battista Alberti (1404 - 1472)
San Pancrazio -with the exception of the Rucellai Chapel, - has been deconsecrated for some time and in the past served as a seat to various official bodies and even had been used as a tobacco factory at one point. Since the late 20th century it has been converted to a museum dedicated to Marino Marini, an Italian sculptor and painter. Nowadays over 200 works of Marini are exhibited in an extensive permanent exhibition in the tastefully altered interior spaces of the old church.
I was impressed by the architectural vision of San Pancrazio as the architectural features added to the open inner spaces formed a spectacular cohesion with the exhibited items. The unusual geometry of spaces and the shapes created within them inspired my following works.
The ancient church of San Pancrazio,
founded by Charlemagne in the 8th century.
Twefth-Pancras-Forza
mixed media on paper
100 cm x 80 cm
Twefth-Pancras-Forza II
mixed media on paper
100 cm x 80 cm
Twefth-Pancras-Forza III
mixed media on paper
100 cm x 80 cm
Twefth-Pancras-Forza IV
mixed media on paper
100 cm x 80 cm
Untitled
mixed media on paper
100 cm x 80 cm
Some sketchbook pages
