THE

THE

OLD

SCIENCE

SACRISTY

OF SAN
Gabriel

It is widely acknowledged
that in the six
teenth century the Medici had a strong in
terest in astrology, alchemy, and magic. The
recent restorations of the Old Sacristy of San
Lorenzo,

have

however,

focused

new

atten

tion on such issues, giving rise to the follow

ing new information: (1) a high level of her
metic Humanism had been attained in Flo
rence before the Council of 1439; (2) this
knowledge was shared secretly by a small
group of people; (3) Cosimo de' Medici was
one of the primary organizers of this group.
This paper will document these insights by
re-examining Cosimo's
personality and by
a
brief
offering
analysis of the Old Sacristy
(Fig. 1)its purpose, significance, history,
architecture, artistic decoration, and practical
realization. (I will deal with the astrological
aspects of the Old Sacristy in a subsequent
paper.)
view

stereotypical

of

Cosimo

de'

Medici is exemplified by Pontormo's portrait

in the Uffizi representing a wise old man, a
beloved Florentine pater patriae. Although
known for his diplomatic skills and financial
Cosimo

acumen,

theoretical

fact,

Cosimo,

knew

Latin,

Arabic.1
Cosimo

was

an

intellectual

with

interest in Humanism.

who

was

Greek,

expert
German,

in many

In

areas,

French,

and

A nearly unbeatable

chess player,
manipulated
public opinion, took
calculated political risks, and maneuvered the
pope into ordering him to restore San Marco
according to his own (i.e., Cosimo's) tastes.
It is widely assumed that Neoplatonism
and

THE

Hermetism

entered

Florence

via

the

MAGI:

LORENZO

AND

THE

MEDICI

Blumenthal

Council of 1439 and the works of Marsilio

Ficino in the second half of the fifteenth
century. Actually, it was Cosimo who suc
ceeded in fostering the ideals of the Human
istic Renaissance man.
The

revolutionary

nature

of

the

new

her

metic

(Platonism, Neoplaton
philosophies
ism, and Neo-Pythagorism)
changed man's
view of himself and the world. Rather than
playing a passive role, as in the previous
centuries, man now took responsibility for his
destiny. And although Cosimo did not origi
nally formulate these ideas, he did give them
a vigorous impetus, and the Council of 1439
resulted in a broadened intellectual horizon
for the average man. Astrology, alchemy,
and magic, which were already familiar to an
elite group at the beginning of the century,
became accessible to a wider audience.
Cosimo

The

deep

OF

as

Magus

is

an

unusual

concept,

yet he was depicted among the retinue of the

Magi and commissioned many paintings of
that subject, notably the elaborate scenes by
in the Medici-Riccardi
Benozzo
Gozzoli
The
Palace.
Magi were not only prototypes of
Christian devotion and humility, they were
also the "wise men" whose understanding of
"scientific" magic enabled them to calculate
the time and place of Christ's birth. The in
tellectual and philosophical tradition of her
metic magic operated within the religious
framework of antiquity and continued in
Christianity. Significantly in this connection,
all the Medici, from Giovanni di Bicci to
Lorenzo il Magnifico, belonged to the Com
pagnia dei Magi, a lay fraternity that congre

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l2"

Interior,

gated

at

San

Marco.

The

existence

Old

of

Sacristy,

this

confraternity is already recorded in 1390, and

its decline coincided with the expulsion of the
Medici in 1494. During this time span, the so
ciety exerted considerable influence on sev
eral levels, though never openly. The Medici
regularly attended the meetings and, dis

San

Lorenzo,

Florence

guised as Magi, took part in the annual pro

cession at Epiphany. Indeed, the meetings
took

place

at San

Marco,

where

an Adoration

of the Magi was depicted in Cosimo's own

cell. At the center of this painting, a man
holds an armillary sphere, the instrument of
astrological/astronomical

studies.

In

another

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3
of

part

the

Convent

of

San

Saint

Marco,

Peter Martyr, frescoed in a lunette, signals

for silence by raising his index finger to his
lips,

a gesture

also

known

to ritual

magic

sig

nifying hermetic silence and reminding initi

ates

not

to reveal

their

secrets.

Those who were chiefly involved in the ex

ecution
had

of

the

access

Old

at

Sacristy

to hermetic

secrets.

San

Lorenzo
them

Among

were the patrons Giovanni di Bicci (who died

in 1429) and his son Cosimo; Filippo Brunel
leschi and his adopted son Andrea Cavalcanti
called II Buggiano, who made the marble

and very possibly

decorations;
Donatello;
Alberti and Toscanelli.
The Sacristy, as it was built, I suggest, was
designed as an Athanor, or cosmic oven, with
the vas insigne electionis, or vessel in which
the alchemical Mercury would be created
(Figs. 2a and 2b). This, in turn, would
transmute

common
the

produce

man

perfect

into

man

as

divine
a member

spirit

and

of the

Medici family. He would be the long-awaited

Great

ruler

Monarch,

of

the

new

Golden

Age. Considered in this context, the Sacristy

is a unique building in many ways. Though
not a church, the Old Sacristy was a sacred
building, accessible to the public and located
in a special place. It is the only building of
this size
and actually
entirely planned
constructed by Brunelleschi, which means
that here he had the opportunity to develop
fully and translate into physical reality his
geometrical, numerological, and metaphysical
concepts. No aspect of the building was left
to chance; the best artists and the finest
materials were employed. Since alchemical
processes require careful attention to detail
and precise execution, we find that each
element of the Old Sacristy, from the overall
details, has a
plan to minor decorative
that mea
and,
furthermore,
specific meaning
sure

and

actitude.

proportion

This

were

project,

observed

not

with

ex

coincidentally,

combined

the

architectural

greatest

and

talents of the day under the

patronage first of Giovanni and later of
Cosimo himself.
Brunelleschi's
original plans were sub
mitted to Giovanni di Bicci about 1420-1421,
sculptural

but

they

were

almost

certainly

not

those

of

the Sacristy as we know it today; it did not

have as intricate an astrological/astronomical
a matrix as it was finally given. Although
Brunelleschi was undoubtedly the most gifted
architect of his time, he was not an as
trologer, even though he was obsessed with
number and proportion. But the building as
we

now

have

it has

many

astrological

nents in addition to the painted

over

cupolina

Manetti,
refers

to

the

who

altar

was

conversations

in the

compo

sky in the

scarsella.

followed
between

by Vasari,
Giovanni

di

Bicci

and Brunelleschi, and speaks of the

building as a sacristy and a chapel.4 Taken
literally, we learn that Brunelleschi suggested
either a sacristy and a chapel, as actually re

alized later, or a sacristy with a chapel in

scribed within it. In the first instance, which is
the more likely, the existing Medici Chapel
dedicated to Saints Cosimo and Damiano,
with the Old
and
contiguous
Sacristy
connected

to

it by an

open

arch,

is a leftover

of the original Brunelleschian

sacristy-a/id
chapel construction, with the Chapel divided
off from the Sacristy in order to simplify the
situation.
A document of November 28, 1428, autho
rizes the institution of two canonries and
prebends for the Church of San Lorenzo by
Giovanni de' Medici.5 Mention is made of
two chapels, that of Saints Cosimo
and
Damiano and that of Saint John the Evange
list, "existenti in dicta nova sacrista dicte ec
clesie." Giovanni apparently first built a sac
risty containing or encompassing two "chap
els," one of which, by later division of the
space,

must

have

been

separated

off-namely,

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Athanor.

Fig.

2b

North

side,

Old

From

Sacristy,

J. B. Pirelli,

San

>1/c/j//w/7 nuova

Lorenzo,

Florence.

(1654)

(After

G.

Ruffa)

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5
that

of Saints

Cosimo

and

as

Damiano,

men

tioned above.6 Thus, it appears that, accord

ing to Brunelleschi's first plan for Giovanni
and

the

based

early

of

phases

actual

construction

upon it, there was but a large single

structure.

According to Vasari, Giovanni died before

the Sacristy roof was finished.7 However, if
four months earlier the canonries
and
had
been
which
means
instituted,
prebends
that

altar

the

must

have

been

used

and

rites

Thus, it appears that Brunelleschi's original

project, worked out with Giovanni, was
changed and that a different project was car
ried forward under the stewardship
of
Cosimo il Vecchio. Brunelleschi's new pro
gram modified what had already been built,
dividing the space between the Sacristy as it
was

to

be

and

the

Cosimo

and

Damiano

Chapel. As already observed, it is doubtful

that the scarsella existed at the time of the
above-mentioned

document

of

November

held, the Sacristy in some form must have

been functional by that time. The only alter
native is to assume that just the first stage of

1428. Indeed, there is some indication that

the altar had been located on the north wall
of the Sacristy (the scarsella is on the south),

construction

where

was

and

completed

the

Sacristy

was still without the cupola; Donatello's tondi

and the bronze doors, and the scarsella with
the painted cielo were yet to come. Support
ing this is the fact that every element of the
Sacristy, the altar, the sarcophagus, the large
marble

the

table,

friezes,

and

so

forth,

as well

as the wooden furniture date from after 1432,

the year inscribed on the altar. The only ex
ception is the lantern, which bears a date of
1428. But this does not necessarily contradict
the fact that the cupola was completed much
later, as I shall explain.
The

elaborate

program

in

the

Sagrestia

was carried out over a long period

following Giovanni's death; Cosimo guided
the progress closely. That the work carried on
Vecchia

was

not

only

the

decorative

elements

is

con

firmed by Vasari.8 He states: "Cosimo, dopo

la morte di Giovanni di Bicci, suo padre,
finito di murare [my italics] la sagrestia di San
Lorenzo di Firenze che egli lass imperfetta,
prese

a far murare

la

chiesa."

If Vasari

meant

"painting" or "sculpturing," he would not have

used the word "murare" ("to build," "to put up
walls"). The main work must have taken place
between the death of Giovanni in early 1429

(1428 Florentine style) and 1441an ample

span, even considering the pause
during
Cosimo's exile (1433-1434).

it would

to the

progress

have

caused

of the

work.

less

obstruction

The inscribed date in the lantern1428

suggests the year of completion of the cupola
as well. In light of what has already been said,
however, another interpretation is possible.
The unfolding of a building as complex as the
Sacristy must have been meditated on and
worked over for a long period. For the most
part, the alchemical aspects had to be for
mulated and fixed before actual work com
menced.

To

be

the

sure,

is an

lantern

impor

tant element of the building, whose function

was
ing

to give
heavenly

a spiral

stage

under
ordered

respond

conceived

Giovanni
then.

to that

to

It must

energies.

of the elements
been

movement

and

Thus,

of the

the

have

the

incom

been

one

at the planning
may
date

execution,

even

have

could
but

not

cor
the

installation, which, as I maintain, must have

come

later.

This view can also be supported by another

argument. The substitution of Brunelleschi's
original plan, which apparently occurred at
the time of Giovanni's death, by Brunelle
schi's new one coincides with the project for
the Pazzi Chapel in Santa Croce (1429
1430?), where the same alchemical idea was
pursued. The Pazzi probably belonged to the
elite of the "hermetic circle." And one more

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Fig.

3a

Cube

and

sphere

superimposed

over

a diagram

of the Old

Sacristy.

(After

G.

Ruffa)

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Fig.

3b

Interlacing

circles

(spheres)

superimposed

on a diagram

of the Old

Sacristy.

(After

G.

Ruffa)

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,S
of the

explanation

date

might

be

put

forward:

it could have represented the year of Gio

vanni's death, Florentine style, which was
1428, since the Sacristy was dedicated to
Saint John the Evangelist, Giovanni's patron
saint, and became on one level his funerary
chapel together with his wife's. Therefore, the
date could have been inscribed later, while
the preparations for the cupola were being
made.

According to Byzantine legend, Saint John

was

an

alchemist

who

could

transform

peb

bles on the seashore into gold and precious

stones. In Revelation
21:16, Saint John
of a perfect

speaks

Brunelleschi

the

cube,

divided

very

that

space

with

cherubim
and
It
includes
the
and
the
seraphim.
crypt
interior of the Sacristy (without the cupola)
up to the lower border of the frieze. The
walls of the crypt, representing the lower,
material

level,

to

correspond

the

exact

surface of the cube: 18.9 X 18.9 Florentine

braccia.9 In the Sacristy proper, the space
acquires a symbolic quality. The volume of
18.9 X 18.9 braccia is neatly and exactly out
lined by the outer edges of the corner pilas
ters. The walls function here only as the con
tainer for the sacred space (Figs. 3a and 3b).
In Revelation 21:12-13, John speaks of the
twelve

gates

of heavenly

Jerusalem,

three

on

In the Sacristy, we find twelve

windows, three on each side. It is clear that
they were not merely intended to admit light
since two sides of the Sacristy were originally
planned to be continuous with the Church
each

and,

side.

consequently,

would

not

admit

outdoor

light. However, whatever light would pene

trate these windows would, like the daylight
through the other windows, project onto the
imaginary walls of the cube in front of them
and create twelve gates of light, conveying
heavenly and earthly energies into the inner
sanctuary.

A river of crystal-clear, life-bringing water

rising out of the throne of God is also men

tioned in Revelation (22:1). In the Sacristy,

we find a spring feeding both the small well
into the corner of the tiny side
squeezed
in the

room

scarsella

on

the

left, next

to Ver

rocchio's basin, and a large well located in the

courtyard beyond.
The frieze, with cherubim and seraphim in
the main space, marks the limit between the
lower world of matter, whose symbol is the
cube, the sublunar world of the ancients, and
the higher, "perfect" realm of the Divine, rep
resented by the sphere. The sphere, in turn, is
defined by the ribs of the cupola, with its
twelvefold division, which is also the number
of the solar months of the year (Fig. 3a).
Brunelleschi's plans for the Old Sacristy
are

even

more

than

complex

has

been

im

plied thus far. He framed the entire building,

calculating the thickness of the walls, the
pitch of the roof, and the form of the lantern,
in a perfect

structure

geometrical

based

upon

the interaction of two numbers, 5 and 6,

which represent the principles of life and
death, according to hermetic thought.10 All
proportions

and

measures

used

in

the

Sac

risty are derived from these two numbers,

forming a building of harmonic resonances.
Each measure of the Sacristy, from the
width of the frieze to the height of the altar,
the dimensions of the sarcophagus, and the
central table (which is an interrelation of 1 X
2 X 3), can be defined and explained by the
geometrical construction. The interlacing cir
cles (in fact, they are spheres) form various
levels corresponding to the stages of hermetic
sublimations and are the ladder that reaches
from the depths to the lantern, symbolizing
the succession of alchemical operations (Fig.
3b).11
The

four

elements,

represented

by

Don

atello's four Evangelists, are placed on the

walls. Their astrological sequence
is note
worthy: Matthew (Earth and Taurus); Mark
(Fire and Leo); Luke (Water and Scorpio);
John (Air and Aquarius). This arrangement

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9
differs from that found in the Pazzi Chapel,
where the sequence is Matthew, Luke, Mark,
and John.
I suggest that the Medici intended to build
this sacred and magical space to perform the

Great Work (Opus) for the Incarnation of

the Divine Spirit. In choosing San Lorenzo,
they chose a place where in 394 a widow,
Santa Giuliana, had erected the Church as a
thanksgiving for the birth of a son, Lorenzo,
whom she considered a gift of God. Saint
Ambrogio, bishop of Milan, consecrated the
Church at Easter, 394, with a sermon in
which he quoted Santa Giuliana
ferred

to

the

boy

Lorenzo

by

when he re
that

saying

cipiet et pariet filium." The second prophet,

Ezekiel, says (18:31): "Facite vobis cor novum
et spiritum novum." These are words of the
prophets framing the Virgin at the back of
the altar, which the onlooker cannot normally
see and which form the background, as it
of the

were,

story.

On the font, Jeremiah, with the words

"Foemina
circumdabit virum" (31:22), and

Daniel, "Ecce vir unus vestitus lineis" (10:5),

give a much more official portrait of Him in
all His angelic splendor, dearly beloved and
surrounded by the "foemina" (i.e., the people
of Israel), here to be interpreted as the peo
ple

of Florence,

since

Florence

had

Lorenzo was born for God, to whom he be

12
longed before birth. I believe that this idea

associated with Jerusalem.

The two marble balustrades

can

scarsella

be

understood

as

one

gram for the Sacristy-a

child

whose

name

part

of

the

pro

building for a special

would

be

con

Lorenzo,

sidered from the beginning as belonging only

to God or, in other terms, to the destiny he
had to fulfill. All that the Medici offered to
do

was

for him

to care

on

the

material

plane

and to raise and educate him in the best pos

sible way so that he might accomplish his
mission.
The marble altar, realized in 1432 by II
is rectangular,

Buggiano,

with

three

at

panels

the front and three at the back. The central

front

panel,

Brunelleschi's

now
fonnella

once

empty,

representing

contained
the

Sac

rifice of Isaac (now in the Bargello) for the

competition for the second set of doors for
the Baptistery. Could there possibly be a
more

appropriate

image

to

document

the

Medici's intention to offer their child to God?

The corresponding position at the back of
the altar shows a Virgin with Child, while the
are occupied
remaining panels
by four
each
one
a
scroll
with a
prophets,
holding
Biblical verse developing further the mes
sianic message. The first prophet, Isaiah, an
nounces (7:14)
the coming of Immanuel
"God
with
us"): "Ecce Virgo con
(literally,

by

II

from

main

the

Each

Buggiano.

one

been

dividing the

were

space

long

also

made
a vase

represents

out of which grow two oak trees with flowers

and

acorns

as well

as leaves

and

pomegranate

flowers. The vase has always been considered

a symbol of the body, the receptacle of a
precious contentthe spirit. Here, it obvious
ly also

becomes

the

vessel

mystical

of trans

mutation. The spirit, contained and trans

muted in the vases, permits the Golden Age
to flourish (the oak being one of its symbols),
while the blood-red flowers of the pomegran
ate hint at the mysteries of the transmutation
of life and death in their cyclical return.
The balustrades are framed with shells.
Four large blue and gold shells support the
cupolina, and shells are also used in the deco
ration of the edicole and in the door frame.
Prominently displayed, they must have a
symbolic meaning in the program. Indeed,
shells have been an auspicious decoration of
tombs since early times. The shell is also
linked to cosmological
principles, to the
moon

and

its phases,

to water

and,

therefore,

to the cyclical process of birth, death, and re

birth. It could also mean the rebirth of the
Golden

Age

and

its
.

ruler,

or

it could
1 "3

mean

the rebirth of Octavianus Augustus.

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10
mystical and alchemical
thinking, opposites, the fixed and the volatile,
male and female principles are often repre
According

as

sented

the

to

and

sun

the

moon

to

indicate

The

that, in nature, they are always separated.

Through the Opus, the two principles unite
and cause the
(linio mystica, coniunctio)
of their union
death
of the product
(putrefaction). The "soul," the volatile princi
ple,

released

at

"death,"

ascends

to

Heaven

from where, purified

(that is, evaporates),
and with the power of the superior, it de
scends again (as life-bringing water) to re
unite with the "body" (fixed principle), bring
ing

about

This

its resurrection.

new

state

to

necessary

make

perfect

(i.e.,

to

transmute into the most perfect mattergold)

all other matter. This perfection is the lapis
the
the
hermaphrodite,
philosophorum,
fixed
volatile.
Its
the
philosophers' Mercury,
emblem is two wings tied together, or it is a
mystical being, sometimes called the "Deus
terrestris," the "Salvator" or "filius macro
cosmi."
Seen within this context, the Sacristy is the
building in which we may see the "body," the
fixed spatial principle, and the "soul," the
volatile principle (fleeting time), which is
defined with astronomical precision by the
painted cielo. They come together at the
the
bodies
of
containing
sarcophagus
Giovanni di Bicci and his wife Piccarda
Bueri.14

Here,

in

the

ancestral

grave

of

the

Medici, the coniunctio mystica between time

(the volatile principle) and space (the fixed

the

filius
stone, the

if

Opus,

am

was

correct,

accom

plished on the first of January, 1449 (1448

Florentine style), when Lorenzo, later known
as

the

was

Magnificent,

born

under

the

as

trological sign ruled by SaturnCapricorn.

one of the artificers of the
Donatello,
decoration
and, therefore, well in
Chapel's
formed of its program as well as an intimate
of Cosimo, celebrated the event with his
bronze statue of David, which, I suggest, was
made around 1450 and erected in the middle
of

rep

resents the true union of opposites, the tran

scendence of duality by a higher level of con
sciousness. It is the perfection of physical
matter

to produce
occurs
the
philosophers'
hermaphroditus,
anima mundi.
principle)

the

central

court

the

of

new

Palazzo

Medici on Via Larga.15 There it proclaimed

to those in the know the success of the
Medicean

enterprise,

for

it

the

represents

Rebis, the Sun-Moon Hermaphrodite, pure,

of
therefore naked and golden. (Remains
golden hair are still visible.) There are laurel
leaves (for Lorenzo?) on his hat, the philoso
phers' stone in one hand, a sword, which is a
common

attribute

of the

"son"

and

represents

spirit, in the other. He is resurrected out of

the dead materia prima at his feet, the winged
globe of chaos, here rendered as the round,
winged helmet. The David only recently has
been

seen

as

Mercury

by

In

Parronchi.16

deed, what is David symbolically if not an al

chemical Mercury, the young, resurrected
king who, with but one stone, defies the lower
manifestations of matter (represented by the
giant), initiating a new dynasty and a new
spiritual and illuminated age? The goal of the
Medici was embodied in this remarkable fig
ure, which, in turn, is closely related in
meaning to the Sacristy.17

NOTES
da Bistici, Le vite, 2d ed., ed. A. Greco
1. Vespasiano
(Florence:
1976), p. 193. Important for the discussion
con
that follows is this: "Per essere sempre praticato
et con altri astrolagi, in
Pagolo
[Toscanelli]
qualche cosa vi dava fede et usavala in alcuna sua cosa."
2. E. Garin, "La cultura filosfica fiorentina nell'et
maestro

in Idea,
medicea,"
Firenze deiMedici,

istitutzioni,
ed. C. Vasoli

scienza
(Florence:

ed

arti nella
1980),

pp.

86-90.
de' Magi,"
R. Hatfield,
"The
Compagnia
Institutes
33
of the Warburg and Courtauld
and id., Botticelli's
(1970):107-161,
Uffizi "Adora
3. See

Journal

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11
tion":

Study

in Pictorial

Content

(Princeton,

1976), passim.
4. Antonio Manetti, Vita di Filippo Brunelleschi,
G. Tanturii and D. de Robertis (Florence:
1976),

N.J.:

pp.
II
and G. Vasari, Le vite, ed. G. Milanesi,
106-107,
Milanesi (p. 370, n. 1)
(Florence:
1906),
pp. 369-370.
commented
that "il Vasari cade in pi errori . . . Gio
di Bicci de' Medici non pens a far altro che la
Giovanni mori, che
sagrestia e due cappelle . . . quando
fu nel 1428, erangi compiti."
et creatio
5. ASF,
MAP,
155, fol. lr. "Institutio
vanni

duaorum
ecclesie

conanicauum
S. Laurenti

et

duarum

This document

..."

prebendarum
was brought

to my attention by James Beck, and the transcription

(see n. 6) was made for me by Dr. Gino Corti.
6. Relevant portions of the document read: [28 Nov.
"Item
in Cappella
Sanctorum
5r]
quod
et Damiani,
novam
que est penes Sacristiam
et in Cappella
Sancti Iohannis
ecclesie,
Evange

1428-fol.
Cosme
dicte

in dicta
liste, existenti
constructis
et edificatis
Bicci

nova

sacrestia

dicte

eccelsie,
Iohannem
[= di

per dictum
ad incrementum
divini cultus

de'

Medici]
memorata

in ec

che mettono

in mezzo

l'altare

sagrestia fece in un canto un pozzo

See also Vasari-Milanesi,
luogo per un lavamani."
("Ragionamenti"),
pp. 97 f.
della

ed.

due stanzette

una delle
detta

ed il
VIII

9. Thermographic
tests to confirm this suggestion
are planned for a new phase of restoration
of the Old
braccia equals0.583624
Sacristy in 1987. A Florentine
meters (22.977
inches).
to alchemical
10. According

5 is the
principles,
of life, of expanding
structures
of
(logarithmic
spiral); 6 the number of crystallization,
dead structures (snow crystals, salt crystals). The inter
number

action

of growth,

of 5 and

6 is the interaction

between

life and

death.
11. In the Sacristy, the structure is made out of in
of 5 X 14 (= 70)
terlacing circles with a circumference
and 6 X 14 (= 84), calculated
in braccia.
12. She had already had three girls and had asked
for a boy. Since she considered
Samuel
of the Bible, procreated

him to be, like

by divine

had to be dedicated

tion, he, therefore,

service.

the

interven

entirely to His

et pro sue suorumque

et
parentum
salute."
animarumque
et die et loco
[fol. 6r] "Item dictis anno, indictione
. . . Omnibus
innotescat
presents publici instumenti

13. Given that Neoplatonists

as well as authors like
of the
Virgil supported the theory of the reincarnation
soul and that Kronos-Saturn
was also "time," Lorenzo
the Magnificent's
motto "Le temps revient" could be

seriem

interpreted not only as the return of Saturn, but also

as the return of the one born under Saturn (i.e.,
For a good
Augustus, who had a Capricorn ascendant).

clesia

amicorum

inspecturi qualitor nobilis et egregius vir Iohan

Bicci de Medicis,
civis et mercator
honorabilij
constitutus
in presenta dicti
florentinus,
personaliter
domini
dicte ecclesie
Sancti
prioris et canonicorum
nes

Laurentii

Florentie

. . . dixit

et exposuit
quod cum
ad incrementum
divini cultus et pro sue
ipse Iohannes,
et suorum parentum et amicorum animarum salute, in
ecclesia

and detailed

and the Medici,

study on Saturn-Capricorn
see C. Rousseau,
"Cosimo
I de' Medici and Astrology:
The Symbolism
of Prophecy"
(Ph.D. diss., Columbia
University, 1983).
14. Alessandro
Parronchi

S. Laurentii, de bonis sibi a Deo col

novo construi et edifican
fecerit notabilem,
cum duabus inibi pro celebratione
missarum Cappellis,

tia Vecchia:

Giuliano

arte in onore

di Federico

sacristiam

pointed

prelibata
latis, de

opere
una sub nomine
sub nomine

non modicum
Sanctorum

et intitulatis
sumptuoso,
Cosme et Damiani, et alia

S. Iohannis

Evangeliste."
7. Vasari-Milanesi,
"Non
II, pp. 369-370.
di coprire la sagrestia che Giovanni de' Medici
altra vita e rimase Cosimo
seguitar questa, la quale
e gli rec tanta

murare;
innanzi

suo figliuolo,
fu la prima cosa

fu finita

pass all'
il quale ... fece

ch'egli facesse
che egli da quivi
fece murare."
Manetti

dilettazione

sempre fino alia morte

(p. 109) says much the same thing: "Fatta la sagrestia,
o mentre che la si tirava innanzi insieme con parte del
la croce, mori Giovanni de' Medici."
8. Vasari
recounts
"Sollecitava
Cosimo
(p. 370):
e mentre s'imbastiva
questa
opera con pi caldezza,

una cosa, faceva finir l'altra. Ed avendo

preso per
del continuo;
e
ispasso
questa
opera, ci stava quasi
caus la sua sollecitudine,
che Filippo forni la sagrestia,
e Donato
fece gli stucchi, e cosi a quelle porticciuole
l'ornamento

di pietra

e le porte

di bronzo

. . . ed in

della Sacres
("L'Emispero
Pe sello?" in Scritti di storia dell'

Zeri, I [Milan: 1984], p. 140)

the perspective
in the
considering
its only
painted cielo, the center of the table became
correct point of observation.
15. J. Pope-Hennessy
dates
it to around
1450
out

that

Bronze David,"
in Scritti di storia dell'
di Federico
Zeri, I, pp. 122-127).
16. A. Parronchi,
"Mercurio
e non David," in Dona
tello e il potere
and Bologna:
(Florence
1980),
pp.

("Donatello's
arte in onore

101-115.
This suggestion
is supported
by Pope-Hen
nessy (see n. 15).
17. Professor Susan McKillop,
in her "He Shall Build
a House for My Name"
(in press), came to similar con
clusions, although she interpreted the historical situa
tion from a different point of view. I am grateful for
her encouragement
and for allowing
me to read her
I would
manuscript.
thanks to Dr. Arch.
curate

plans made
the Old Sacristy.

also

like to express my special

Ruffa, whose very ac

Giuseppe

it possible

to detect

the structure of

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