Basilica of Santa Maria Novella
Dominican builders; Leon Battista Alberti · Florence, Italy · 1470
Santa Maria Novella pairs a large Dominican Gothic church with one of the Renaissance's most influential façades. Medieval lower fabric and pointed interior arcades form the base of the complex, while Leon Battista Alberti completed the upper front with strict proportional control, classical pilasters, a pediment and scrolls that reconcile the tall nave with lower aisles. Green-and-white marble geometry binds the old and new work into a single urban image. Inside, major fresco cycles and Masaccio's Trinity make the building essential to the history of spatial representation. The year refers to completion of Alberti's façade rather than the foundation or initial construction of the church.