| Rucellai Sepulchre | |
|---|---|
Tempietto del Santo Sepolcro | |
 | |
| Alternative names |
|
| General information | |
| Type | funerary chapel |
| Architectural style | Renaissance |
| Location | Rucellai Chapel, San Pancrazio |
| Town or city | Florence |
| Country | Italy |
| Coordinates | 43°46′19″N 11°15′00″E / 43.77196°N 11.24990°E |
| Construction started | about 1458 |
| Completed | 1467 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Leon Battista Alberti |
The Rucellai Sepulchre is a small funerary chapel built inside the Rucellai Chapel of the church of San Pancrazio, Florence. It was commissioned by Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai and built to designs by Leon Battista Alberti in imitation or emulation of the Holy Sepulchre in the Anastasis in Jerusalem. It contains the tombs of Giovanni Rucellai and members of his family.[1]
Names
The Rucellai sepulchre is known by various names, including Sacellum of the Holy Sepulchre, Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, Italian: Tempietto del Santo Sepolcro, Sacello del Santo Sepolcro and Tempietto Rucellai.
History
Leon Battista Alberti probably began work on the Rucellai Chapel and on the sepulchre within it in about 1458;[2] the origins of the chapel date to 1417, when the walls of the nave of San Pancrazio were built. According to the inscription above the door, the Sepulchre was completed in 1467.
The Rucellai Chapel was closed for many years for restoration. Since 16 February 2013 it has been re-opened to the public. Access is through the Marino Marini Museum, which occupies the deconsecrated part of the church of San Pancrazio.[3]
Description
The inner walls and vault of the sepulchre are entirely frescoed, work that one author has attributed to Giovanni da Piamonte.[4]
Inscriptions
The sepulchre has two inscriptions: one, on a square panel above the door, reads:
| IOHANNES RVCELLARIVS | |
| PAVLI ‧F‧ VT INDE SALVTEM SVAM | |
| PRECARETVR VNDE OMNIVM CVM | |
| CHRISTO FACTA EST RESVRECTIO | |
| SACELLVM HOC | |
| ADĪSTAR HIEROSOLIMITANI SEPVL | |
| CHRI FACIVNDVM CVRAVIT | |
| MCCCCLXVII |
meaning approximately "Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai, in order that his salvation might be prayed for from where, through Christ, the resurrection of all was achieved, had this temple built in the shape of the tomb in Jerusalem [in] 1467".
The other inscription runs round the top of the building and reads:
YHESVM QVERITIS NAZARENVM CRVCIFIXVM SURREXIT NON EST HIC ECCE LOCVS VBI POSVERVNT EVM
or approximately "you seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified; he rose, he is not here; this is the place where they put him".
Gallery: exterior
| YHESVM QVERITIS N | AZARENVM CRVCIFIXVM SUR | REXIT NON EST HIC ECCE L | OCVS VBI POSVERVNT EVM | |||||||
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 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |
| West wall | South wall | Apse | North wall |
References
- ↑ Ferruccio Canali (2006) Firenze: i luoghi di Leon Battista Alberti (in Italian). Comune di Firenze, Ufficio Centro Storico, Patrimonio Mondiale UNESCO. Accessed May 2013.
- ↑ Rab Hatfield (2004) The Funding of the Façade of Santa Maria Novella. Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. London: The Warburg Institute. 67: 81–128. (subscription required)
- ↑ Nicoletta Speltra (12 February 2013). Riapre al pubblico la Cappella Rucellai e torna visibile il tempietto dell'Alberti (in Italian). La Stampa. Archived 6 January 2020.
- ↑ Frank Dabell (2001). Giovanni da Piamonte (in Italian). Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, volume 56. Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. Accessed February 2019.
