Museums.artTickets
Number 16 of 20 in Florence

The Oltrarno: Santo Spirito, the artisans and Masaccio's chapel

Oltrarno means beyond the Arno. The quarter on the south bank was always the poorer side of the river, the side of the dyers, the carpenters and the gilders, and it is still where Florence feels most like a city people live in.

What it is
Walk
Time to allow
2 to 3 hours
Cost
Free to walk, ticket for the chapel
Best time
Late afternoon, staying for the evening

Florence this week

    Why the Oltrarno is worth it

    Its centre is Piazza Santo Spirito, a square of trees and café tables in front of a church with a blank yellow front. Behind that front is Brunelleschi's last work, begun in 1444: a forest of grey columns, perfectly regular, with thirty-eight chapels round the walls. In the sacristy hangs a wooden crucifix that Michelangelo carved when he was about seventeen, for the prior who had let him study the bodies of the dead.

    Ten minutes west, in the plain church of Santa Maria del Carmine, is the Brancacci Chapel. Between 1425 and 1427 Masolino and the young Masaccio painted its walls with the life of Saint Peter. Masaccio's figures have weight and cast shadows, and stand in real space. He died at twenty-six. Every painter in Florence for a century afterwards, Michelangelo among them, came here to copy what he had done.

    Between the two churches run the streets of the workshops: bookbinders, makers of marbled paper, restorers of furniture, goldsmiths, shoemakers. There are fewer than there were, and those that remain are glad to be looked at.

    What to see

    1. The Tribute Money

      Masaccio's largest scene in the chapel: Christ and the apostles in a ring before the tax collector, under bare hills, in three episodes on one wall.

    2. The Expulsion from Paradise

      On the pier at the left as you enter: Adam with his hands over his face, Eve howling. Compare it with Masolino's calm Temptation on the pier opposite.

    3. Santo Spirito

      Walk the whole way round the inside wall, chapel by chapel, and ask at the sacristy door for Michelangelo's crucifix.

    4. The workshops

      Via Maggio for antique dealers, Borgo San Frediano, Via dei Serragli and the lanes off them for people at work. Many have their doors open.

    5. The wine windows

      Small arched hatches at waist height in the walls of the old palaces, through which noble families once sold their own wine by the flask. A few have been opened again and serve a glass through the hole.

    6. Piazza Santo Spirito in the evening

      The steps of the church and the tables in the square fill from six o'clock. On some Sundays there is a market.

    How to do it well

    • The Brancacci Chapel takes a limited number of people at a time, for a set length of visit. Book ahead.
    • It is entered from the cloister to the right of the church front, not through the church.
    • Santo Spirito closes in the middle of the day and on Wednesdays. The sacristy with the crucifix has a small charge.
    • Cross by the Ponte Santa Trinita and come back by the Ponte Vecchio after dark.
    • This is the part of Florence to have dinner in.

    Where it is

    Address

    South of the Arno, between Ponte Vecchio and Porta San Frediano

    Nearest station

    Santa Maria Novella station, about fifteen minutes on foot, over the Ponte alla Carraia

    Museums and sights nearby

    Distances are in a straight line.

    Tickets and tours: The Oltrarno and the Brancacci Chapel

    The Oltrarno and the Brancacci Chapel: common questions

    What is the Oltrarno?
    The part of Florence on the south bank of the Arno. It holds the Pitti Palace, the Boboli Gardens, the churches of Santo Spirito and Santa Maria del Carmine, and the city's old craft workshops.
    Why is the Brancacci Chapel important?
    Because of Masaccio's frescoes of the 1420s, the first in which figures are solid, lit from one side and placed in convincing space. Painters studied them for generations.
    Do you need to book the Brancacci Chapel?
    Yes. Entry is by reservation for a set time, in small numbers, and the visit is limited in length.
    How much time do you need for the Oltrarno?
    Allow 2 to 3 hours. That is this site's estimate for an unhurried visit.

    Things to do near the Oltrarno

    The nearest of this site's best things to do in the city. Distances are in a straight line.

    All 20 things to do in Florence

    Artists to see near the Oltrarno

    The museums nearest to here, and the most famous artists on show in each.

    All 30 artists in Florence

    Where to eat near the Oltrarno

    The nearest of the famous tables this site lists in Florence. Distances are in a straight line.

    All 20 restaurants in Florence, ranked

    Hotels near the Oltrarno

    The five-star hotels closest to it, of those this site lists in Florence. Distances are in a straight line.

    All 16 hotels in Florence, ranked
    All 20 things to do in FlorenceMuseums and attractions in Florence