The
Cappella de' Pazzi, which you enter from a small cloister, is outside
the basilica. It was built in 1430 by Brunelleschi as the Sala del Capitolo,
because every day a chapter of the rules of the Franciscan Order was read
aloud there.
Andrea de' Pazzi made a substantial donation to obtain the right for
members of his family to be buried there, but no one ever was because
after their unsuccessful conspiracy in 1478, the whole family was exiled.
The importance of this chapel is due to its very particular construction.
Here Brunelleschi brought all his architectural studies into play - indeed,
this chapel is said to have achieved "a harmony of square and circle".
Picture by Sandro Santioli
Translated by Jeremy Carden
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