Cenacolo of Sant’Apollonia

BRIEF HISTORICAL NOTES

The entire lower part of the wall is occupied by the fresco of the Last Supper: the scene takes place in a richly decorated setting, where every architectural element is rendered with meticulous detail. The perspective layout is rigorous, emphasized by the geometric effect of the lines of the floor and ceiling. Above it are depicted the Resurrection, the Crucifixion, and the Deposition in the Sepulchre. In 1953, this upper section was detached for conservation reasons, and the sinopie (preparatory drawings) were discovered; these are now displayed on the opposite wall of the hall.

The Refectory also preserves the few surviving fragments of frescoes and sinopie from the Stories of the Virgin, once located in the church of Sant’Egidio. This pictorial cycle, though largely lost, was a cornerstone of early Florentine Renaissance painting, created by Domenico Veneziano with the assistance of Alesso Baldovinetti, Piero della Francesca, and Andrea del Castagno himself.

Other works by Andrea del Castagno, painted around the mid-15th century, are also exhibited: a frescoed lunette (and its sinopia) depicting the Man of Sorrows with Angels, a Crucifixion, and the sinopia of the Vision of Saint Jerome between Saints Paula and Eustochium. On the south wall of the hall there is a Crucifix attributed to Baccio da Montelupo.

Additional 15th-century works from the former monastery are displayed in the anterefectory: a detached fresco of the Crucifixion by Paolo Schiavo, and two panels by Neri di Bicci depicting the Coronation of the Virgin and the Madonna and Child with Saints. In the latter panel, beside the Madonna appears Saint Apollonia, shown in her traditional iconography holding a pair of pincers gripping a tooth, a reference to the tortures she suffered during her martyrdom.