SURPRISING ITINERARIES: THE CENACLES OF FLORENCE
A walk to discover all the most important monasteries and cenacles in Florence.
Not many people know that Florence guards a real heritage of cenacles: frescoes or monumental panels of the Last Supper. The Florentine cenacles, in fact, date back to the period between the 14th and 16th centuries and were commissioned to great masters.
Even the most famous one in the world, that of Leonardo Da Vinci (located in Milan in the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie), was inspired by the Florentine ones.
The term cenacle refers to the room where Jesus ate the Last Supper with the apostles (from the Latin Cenaculum, which derives from 'to dine'), and this is why they are generally located in the refectories of convents (called cenacles), places enveloped in mystical silence. As you explore the many cenacles in Florence, you will not only see marvelous works of art, but you will also find yourself in lesser known and surprising sacred places.
1.Ghirlandaio's Cenacles
Domenico Bigordi, known as Ghirlandaio, the great Florentine painter of the third generation of the Renaissance along with Verrocchio and Botticelli, left us two Cenacoli to admire! The first is the Cenacolo di Ognissanti (1480), located on the wall of the refectory of the small convent in the splendid Piazza Ognissanti overlooking the Arno.
Second and fourth Wednesday of the month (8 and 29 March; 12 and 26 April) from 10am to 12.30pm. Free admission.
The second, dated 1486, is in the Museo Nazionale di San Marco in Florence, and is called Cenacolo di San Marco. The last of Ghirlandaio's series of three cenacles (the first is in the Badia di Passignano, in Tavarnelle Val di Pesa), it was commissioned by the friars themselves to decorate the smaller refectory where they received guests.
Tuesday to Saturday from 8.15 am to 1.50 pm. Full price €8.
2. Cenacolo of Santo Spirito
The Cenacolo di Santo Spirito dates as far back as 1360, and was painted by Andrea Orcagna, a Florentine artist who frescoed the Cappella Maggiore in Santa Maria Novella, completed a century later by Ghirlandaio's workshop. His cenacle is located in the ancient refectory of the Augustinian convent of the Basilica di Santo Spirito, where the Fondazione Salvatore Romano is now based.
Mondays and Saturdays from 10am to 5pm and Sundays from 1pm to 5pm. Full price €10.
3. Cenacle of Santa Croce
The Last Supper of Santa Croce is located in the convent of the basilica of the same name, which gave rise to the Stendhal syndrome, is part of the great work The Tree of Life, Last Supper and Sacred Stories by Taddeo Gaddi of 1355. This Last Supper was mistakenly attributed to Giotto, and is considered the first great Florentine Last Supper.
Monday to Saturday: 09.30 - 17.30; Sunday: 13.00 - 17.30. Full price 8€. Cenacle closed from Monday 5 June to Thursday 22 June due to works.
4. Cenacle of St. Apollonia
The Last Supper by Andrea del Castagno (1450), in the spacious refectory of Sant'Apollonia, is one of the earliest examples of Renaissance cenacles, in which the Last Supper is given greater prominence by the placement of the other New Testament episodes at the top, a novelty compared to 14th-century cenacles.
Monday to Friday, second and fourth weekends of the month (Saturday and Sunday) 8.15 am - 1.50 pm. Free admission.
5. Last Supper in Fuligno
The refectory of the former monastery of Sant'Onofrio, in Via Faenza, is now a museum dedicated to Pietro Perugino's Last Supper (1493-1496), also known as the Last Supper of Fuligno because of the Franciscan nuns of Beata Angelina da Foligno who housed the convent at the time. The fresco was previously attributed to Raffaello.
6. Last Supper by Andrea del Sarto
The Last Supper by Andrea del Sarto (1511-1527) is located in the former convent of the Benedictine Vallombrosian monks dedicated to San Salvi. The painter was inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper in Milan, depicting the apostles at the moment when they receive the announcement of the betrayal from Jesus.
Tuesday to Sunday, 8.15 a.m. - 1.50 p.m., free admission.
7. Cenacle of the Stocking
Another Cenacolo of the Oltrarno neighborhood, together with Santo Spirito, is the work of Franciabigio and is located in the splendid Convitto della Calza in the square of the same name, just past Porta Romana and its ancient walls. The building takes its name from the 'calza', a long cloth cap worn by the friars at the beginning of the 16th century.
Free entrance.