Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence

The Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence is one of the city’s major Renaissance churches, notable for its early-15th-century rebuilding and close association with the Medici family. Its interior plan and classical proportions were central to the development of Renaissance architecture.

Key architectural and artistic highlights include the Brunelleschian Old Sacristy (early 1420s) and the Medici Chapels, including the New Sacristy designed by Michelangelo in the early 16th century, which houses Medici tombs and sculptural work. The façade remains unfinished and the exterior is comparatively plain compared with the rich interior fittings.

Originally founded in the early Christian period, the church was substantially rebuilt in the 15th century under Medici patronage, with later additions and funerary monuments added in the 16th century. The building has been altered and restored at intervals since then.

San Lorenzo stands in the historic centre of Florence, adjacent to the Medici complex that includes the Laurentian Library, and is one of the main churches in the city’s principal urban district.

• Architecture: Interior rebuilding began in the early 15th century under the patronage of the Medici; the plain exterior façade was never completed in marble.
• Art highlights: The New Sacristy contains Michelangelo's sculpted funerary monuments and is often visited as part of the basilica complex.

What to See #

• Main basilica and nave: The church interior and nave as rebuilt in early Renaissance proportions, notable for its regular column bays and geometric clarity associated with early 15th-century architectural reform.
• Old Sacristy (Brunelleschi): The Old Sacristy, completed by Filippo Brunelleschi in the 1420s, marking an important early example of Renaissance spatial and decorative vocabulary.
• Medici Chapels (New Sacristy): The Medici Chapels including the New Sacristy designed by Michelangelo in the early 16th century, containing sculpted tombs of members of the Medici family.
• Laurentian Library: The Laurentian Library entrance and reading room are adjacent to the basilica; the library interior is a later Mannerist addition with a celebrated staircase by Michelangelo.