Sassetti Chapel

Francesco Sassetti had gained his wealth as a partner in the French branches of the Medici bank in Avignon and Lyon. He also spent over ten years representing the Medici bank in Genoa and occasionally in Geneva. By the end of the 1470s, Sassetti had already acquired the rights of patronage to a small side chapel, the second to the right of the choir in the Florentine church of Santa Trinità. Ghirlandaio was commissioned to paint the chapel, which he decorated with frescoes with scenes from the life of St Francis of Assisi between 1483 and 1485. Ghirlandaio also executed the altarpiece of the chapel. This altarpiece the Adoration of the Shepherds is the key work in the chapel both in subject and in artistic merit. In the Sassetti Chapel the artist combined secular, religious, and classical themes to produce a unique masterpiece. View of the Sassetti Chapel 1483-85 Fresco Santa Trinita, Florence View of the Sassetti Chapel c. 1485 Fresco Santa Trinita, Florence Portrait of the Donor Nera Corsi Sassetti 1483-85 Fresco Santa Trinita, Florence Portrait of the Donor Francesco Sassetti 1483-85 Fresco Santa Trinita, Florence Vaulting of the Sassetti Chapel c. 1485 Fresco Santa Trinita, Florence Sibyl 1483-85 Fresco Santa Trinita, Florence Meeting of Augustus and the Sibyl 1483-85 Fresco Santa Trinita, Florence David 1483-85 Fresco Santa Trinita, Florence