New light shines onto one of Florence’s most prized architectural jewels. The extensive work to return the marble façade of Santa Maria Novella church to its original splendor has finally been completed. After two years, the scaffolding and construction materials have been removed from Leon Battista Alberti’s fifteenth-century masterpiece, commissioned by the Rucellai family in the 1470s.
Directed by the Belle Arti di Palazzo Vecchio, the extensive restoration on the twelfth-century structure cost the city 984,000 euro. Research during the work revealed that the main entranceway was once a gothic-styled pointed arch.
Last cleaned in 1921, the façade is now free of the dark incrustations and deposits that had built up over nearly a century of exposure to many forms of pollution.
The clean-up is part of a larger effort to improve the area. At the press conference to announce the completion of the restoration, Culture superintendent Giovanni Gozzini confirmed that construction work in Piazza Santa Maria Novella is to be completed by November 2008. The square, which will be decorated with pietra serena benches and lit by a modern illumination system, will feature high-capacity underground garbage bins, public restrooms and a permanent police checkpoint.