SANTA MARIA NOVELLA

English New St. Mary Italian Gothic-style church of the Dominicans in Florence. It was planned by two Dominican brothers, Sisto and Ristoro, and construction began c. 1278 and was completed in 1350, except for the facade, which was completed by Leon Battista Alberti in proto-Renaissance style (145670). Frescoes painted on the interior walls of the church, cloister, and chapterhouse are by such Italian masters of Gothic and early Renaissance painting as Nardo di Cione, Andrea da Firenze, Masaccio (The Trinity fresco), Ghirlandajo, Filippino Lippi, and Paolo Uccello. Sta. Maria Novella also houses important early Renaissance works of sculpture by Brunelleschi and Benedetto da Maiano.