THE ALTAR OF THE BADIA DI SANTA FLORA E LUCILLA
The altar of the Badia di Santa Flora e Lucilla was erected between 1570 and 1574 by Giorgio Vasari initially it was meant for his family chapel in the Pieve of Arezzo. In 1864, during the medieval renovation of the Pieve it was dismantled and then recomposed in the Vasarian Church of Badia, which was considered more suitable for its collocation. However the altar appeared to be excessive and bulky if compared to the church's structure because it occludef the view of the rear part reserved for the choir.
The altar was created with a double purose: it was meant to be the high altar of the church and the family altar as well, for this reason we can distinguish two parts of the structure (one towards longitudinal body of the church and the other pointing to the choir) with one of this reserved for the clergy.
Furthermore it was initally designed as a mausoleum for the family and, accessible by a ladder, it should have held the remains of Giorgio, his ancestors and his wife.
The tomb-altar of a mannieristic and pre baroque style is made out of wood painted with marbled and golden painting inegrated with pure marble and travertine parts. It preserves many decorative elements and arranged in the sides, the 23 canvases painted by Giorgio and his collegues.
The canvases are arranged in the four faces of the altar on different levels. The central one is made up of six big tables showing several saints, the inferior one is a predella that shows the life of the saints shown above and lastly the upper one is made up of four circles that represent allegoric virtues. Furthermore on the back two boards with the ancestors of Giorgio, and in the front, within an oval the assumption of the Virgin.
The big painting at the center, by Giorgio Vasari, represents the story of the Apostles Peter, andrew, john and james. This masterpiece has a particular story behind it. The pope Giulio III (from Arezzo) who commisioned it to decorate the pontefix chapel and he forgot to pay the artesans. His successor Paolo IV when Giorgio asked for the payment, preferred to give it back. The painting was then placed on the family altar.
On the right there is a rectangular board which shows the Saints Giorgio and Paolo. On top there is a circular painting representing the allegory of faith and in the predella there is San Giorgio and the princess.
On the left, in a simmetrical way,a wooden board shows Saints Donato and Stefano surmounted by a painting of the allegory of the Religion; below there is a predella (a sort of platform) with the miracle of the goblet of S. Donato.
Ob the decorated thympanum there is the oval of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin. There is a wooden crucifix between the two statues of Mary and Saint Cosimo.
There is a tabernacle in the frontal altar; it is temple-shaped with two little side columns. On the small door there is a painting of Christ risen from death, attributed to Stradano. On the right side of the altar there is a canvas that shows Saint Lazzaro and Maddalena; their features resemble those of Giorgio Vasari and his wife Nicolosa Bacci. Up above there is a representation of the allegory of the Compassion in a tondo (a circular painting) and in the predella the resurrection of Lazzaro.
On the back, in the middle a big canvas depicts Saint George freeing the princess from the dragon, painted by Vasari in collaboration with the Flemish painter Stradano. At the bottom on the left there is a double portrait of the ancestors of the artist which was removed in 1977 and never found. On the right there is a double portrait of his parents, Maddalena Tacci and Antonio Vasari. On the left-hand side of the altar S. Francis of Assisi and Antonio Abate are painted on canvas; in the tondo on top there is an allegory of Patience and in the predella the Stigmata of Francis.
PALIOTTO MELLINI-SERRAGLI
In front of the high altar there has recently been collocatef a new altar for the believers which shows a valuable paliotto from the 15th century (probably around 1478) attributed to Bernardo di Stefano Rosselli. In the middle inside a tondo, there are Saints surrounded by a field, painted of a red and gold brocade with garlands and pomegranate flowers. Above there are three little tondos depicting Saint Scolastica, Benedetto and Giustina; at the sides there are two bands depicting the coat of arms of the Mellini and Serragli family.