Santa Maria delle Carceri
Piazza Santa Maria delle Carceri
Prato, May 2022
“Santa Maria delle Carceri is a basilica church, designed by Giuliano da Sangallo, and built in Prato, Tuscany, Italy. It is among the earliest examples of a Greek cross plan for a complete church in Renaissance architecture. According to the tradition, on July 6, 1484, a painted image of Madonna and Child, located on a wall of the public jail (carceri) of Prato, began to animate itself in the eyes of a local child. It was therefore decided to build a basilica on that site to celebrate the event. Lorenzo de Medici, lord of the Republic of Florence, imposed a design by his favourite architect, da Sangallo. The latter's proposal included a Greek cross plan inspired to Filippo Brunelleschi's Pazzi Chapel and by Leon Battista Alberti's theoretical works; Sangallo used the same idea for his first project of St Peter's Basilica, later superseded by Michelangelo. The same model inspired his brother Antonio da Sangallo the Elder for the church of San Biagio at Montepulciano. The interior of the church was completed from 1486 to 1495, while the exteriors remained unfinished in 1506. The upper part of the western arm was completed in the late 19th century following Sangallo's design.” (Santa Maria delle Carceri, Wikipedia)
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