Cappella Pazzi. Brunelleschi il mito, Michelozzo l’autore

This book discusses the convention that the Pazzi Chapel, a Renaissance masterpiece in the monumental complex of Santa Croce in Florence, is by Brunelleschi. Completed between 1442 and 1460, the Chapel was modelled after a pinnacle of Western architecture, the Old Sacristy built by Brunelleschi in the church of San Lorenzo, which even Michelangelo considered unequalled. Its resemblance to the Old Sacristy prompted the belief that the Pazzi Chapel is by Brunelleschi. But the thoroughness with which Marvin Trachtenberg examines its details and constructional logic shows that the resemblance is merely apparent. However, the Pazzi Chapel is also a masterpiece; paradoxically, it is precisely for this reason that it has been considered the result of Brunelleschi’s genius, making the architect who built it “the first victim of the mystification”, writes Trachtenberg. He identifies Michelozzo as its designer, established around the figure of the architect of the Old Sacristy.

The essays published here appeared for the first time in Italian translation in “Casabella” 635, June 1996 (“Why the Pazzi Chapel is not by Brunelleschi”) and “Casabella” 642, February 1997 (“Michelozzo and the Pazzi Chapel”).

The foreword to this edition is translated by Laura Guidetti.