The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration, Volume 01, No. 05, May 1895 Two Florentine Pavements   By: Various

OF ARCHITECTURAL ILLUSTRATION.

VOL. I. MAY, 1895. No. 5.

TWO FLORENTINE PAVEMENTS.

The church of San Miniato al Monte, just outside the walls southeast of Florence, and the Baptistery, or church of San Giovanni Battista, in Florence, are among the finest examples of the Tuscan Romanesque style, and both probably date from about the same time the early part of the twelfth century although the date of San Miniato has until recently been referred several centuries further back.

These two churches have many points of similarity, although entirely different in plan. San Miniato was referred to in the article upon the Byzantine Romanesque doorways of Southern Italy in our February number, and Fergusson's classification of Byzantine Romanesque was, for the time being, adopted for lack of better authority. Later writers have, however, generally agreed that there is little or no Byzantine influence in these two churches; that the delicate and refined treatment of classic forms here found is not the result of Byzantine or Greek influence, but is due entirely to the natural refinement of the Tuscan race. The same characteristic was again shown later in the treatment of Gothic detail, and is evident in the Renaissance work of this locality.