Novitiate Corridor
The name reflects the area's original function which was to link the church, the Medici Chapel and the novices' dormitory that once occupied the space now housing the Leather School. The corridor is entered via a large 15th century portal off the south side of the transept and leads to the Sacristy and the Well Room. A monumental staircase inside the convent connects the area to the rooms overlooking the cloisters.
The corridor, built between 1435 and 1445, was funded by Cosimo de' Medici who commissioned it in all likelihood from Michelozzo, a suggestion borne out by the architectural features so typical of the latter's distinctive style, while numerous coats-of-arms confirm the Medici patronage.
The area is paved with white marble tomb slabs and is roofed with a barrel vault. Natural light comes from three three-light windows in the west wall, while the opposite wall holds a Monument to Lorenzo Bartolini carved by his pupil Pasquale Romanelli in 1858.
Since 2014 the corridor has housed masterpieces restored after the flood of 1966, including an early 15th century Coronation of the Virgin attributed to Lorenzo di Niccolò and Neri di Bicci's Holy Trinity with St. Benedict, St. Francis, St. Bartholomew and St. John the Baptist painted in 1461.
Lorenzo di Niccolò (attributed), Coronation of the Virgin with Saints, early 15th century. Santa Croce, Novitiate, corridor
Neri di Bicci, The Holy Trinity with St. Benedict, St. Francis, St. Bartholomew and St. John the Baptist, 1461. Santa Croce, Novitiate, corridor