_and_part_of_SS_Annunziata_(1601).jpg/2000px-Florence,_Piazza_SS_Annunziata_with_Ospedale_degli_Innocenti_(1419-39)_and_part_of_SS_Annunziata_(1601).jpg)
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Ospedale degli Innocenti
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Ospedale degli Innocenti
The Ospedale degli Innocenti (Italian pronunciation: [ospeˈdaːle deʎʎ innoˈtʃɛnti]; "Hospital of the Innocents"), also known in old Tuscan dialect as the Spedale degli Innocenti, is a historic building in Florence, Italy. It was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, who received the commission in 1419 from the Arte della Seta. It was originally a foundling hospital. It is regarded as a notable example of early Italian Renaissance architecture. The hospital, which features a nine bay loggia facing the Piazza SS. Annunziata, was built and managed by the Arte della Seta or Silk Guild of Florence. That guild was one of the wealthiest in the city and, like most guilds, took upon itself philanthropic duties.
Since 1988 and as of March 2026[update] the building serves as the base of operations for the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, and also houses an art museum.
The building "is considered to be the first pure Early Renaissance structure".
The central façade is made up of nine bays of semicircular arches springing from columns of the Composite order, in an arcade or loggia several steps above the square. The round arches are a revival of the style of classical architecture, no longer using pointed arches. In the spandrels of the arches there are glazed blue terracotta roundels with reliefs of babies designed by Andrea della Robbia suggesting the function of the building. There is a further bay at each end, with no steps and fluted pilasters.
The upper floor was added later; it was not in place in the 1460s, when the building is shown in the background of a fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli of the Burial of Saint Augustine (1464–1465) in the church of Sant'Agostino in San Gimignano. Above each semicircular arch, on the upper floor is a tabernacle window, with a triangular pediment on the top.
The building reveals a clean and clear sense of proportion. The height of the columns is the same as the width of the intercolumniation and the width of the arcade, making each bay a cube. The building's simple proportions reflect a new age, one of secular education, and a sense of great order and clarity. Similarly, the height of the entablature is half the column height, as is appropriate for a clear-minded society.
Children were sometimes abandoned in a basin which was located at the front portico. However, this basin was removed in 1660 and replaced by a wheel for secret refuge. There was a door with a special rotating horizontal wheel that brought the baby into the building without the parent being seen. This allowed people to leave their babies, anonymously, to be cared for by the orphanage. This system was in operation until the hospital's closure in 1875.[citation needed]
The Foundling Hospital was constructed in several phases and only the first phase (1419–1427) was under Brunelleschi's direct supervision. He managed the laying of foundations, raising of main walls, completion of the basement with a cryptoporticus beneath the cloister walks, and the lower part of the front facing loggia. Later phases added the attic story (1439), but omitted the pilasters that Brunelleschi seems to have envisioned, and expanded the building by one bay to the south (1430). The vaulted passageway in the bay to the left of the loggia was also added later. Since the loggia was started before the hospital was begun, the hospital was not formally opened until 1445.
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Ospedale degli Innocenti
The Ospedale degli Innocenti (Italian pronunciation: [ospeˈdaːle deʎʎ innoˈtʃɛnti]; "Hospital of the Innocents"), also known in old Tuscan dialect as the Spedale degli Innocenti, is a historic building in Florence, Italy. It was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, who received the commission in 1419 from the Arte della Seta. It was originally a foundling hospital. It is regarded as a notable example of early Italian Renaissance architecture. The hospital, which features a nine bay loggia facing the Piazza SS. Annunziata, was built and managed by the Arte della Seta or Silk Guild of Florence. That guild was one of the wealthiest in the city and, like most guilds, took upon itself philanthropic duties.
Since 1988 and as of March 2026[update] the building serves as the base of operations for the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, and also houses an art museum.
The building "is considered to be the first pure Early Renaissance structure".
The central façade is made up of nine bays of semicircular arches springing from columns of the Composite order, in an arcade or loggia several steps above the square. The round arches are a revival of the style of classical architecture, no longer using pointed arches. In the spandrels of the arches there are glazed blue terracotta roundels with reliefs of babies designed by Andrea della Robbia suggesting the function of the building. There is a further bay at each end, with no steps and fluted pilasters.
The upper floor was added later; it was not in place in the 1460s, when the building is shown in the background of a fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli of the Burial of Saint Augustine (1464–1465) in the church of Sant'Agostino in San Gimignano. Above each semicircular arch, on the upper floor is a tabernacle window, with a triangular pediment on the top.
The building reveals a clean and clear sense of proportion. The height of the columns is the same as the width of the intercolumniation and the width of the arcade, making each bay a cube. The building's simple proportions reflect a new age, one of secular education, and a sense of great order and clarity. Similarly, the height of the entablature is half the column height, as is appropriate for a clear-minded society.
Children were sometimes abandoned in a basin which was located at the front portico. However, this basin was removed in 1660 and replaced by a wheel for secret refuge. There was a door with a special rotating horizontal wheel that brought the baby into the building without the parent being seen. This allowed people to leave their babies, anonymously, to be cared for by the orphanage. This system was in operation until the hospital's closure in 1875.[citation needed]
The Foundling Hospital was constructed in several phases and only the first phase (1419–1427) was under Brunelleschi's direct supervision. He managed the laying of foundations, raising of main walls, completion of the basement with a cryptoporticus beneath the cloister walks, and the lower part of the front facing loggia. Later phases added the attic story (1439), but omitted the pilasters that Brunelleschi seems to have envisioned, and expanded the building by one bay to the south (1430). The vaulted passageway in the bay to the left of the loggia was also added later. Since the loggia was started before the hospital was begun, the hospital was not formally opened until 1445.
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