SAN MARCO, Museum - Cloister

You're now inside the convent of the Dominican Friars, a very important place for 15th-century Florentine culture and politics. Remaining faithful to its remarkable and unusual structure designed by Michelozzo in the middle of his century, today the convent is the splendid home of a museum that's almost entirely dedicated to the art of Fra Angelico, one of the greatest Italian painters of the 1400s. Fra Angelico was born near Florence and entered the Dominican order with the name Giovanni da Fiesole. He began as a miniaturist and became an incredibly successful sacred painter capable of combining the geometric conquest of perspective with a wonderful taste for color and light.

He lived quite a long time in this convent, and decorated hallways, cells, and other rooms with beautiful frescoes; the museum also has many magnificent panel paintings that have been sent here from various places. Your visit begins with the Cloister of Sant'Antonino, where among the many frescoes under the arches I'd especially like to point out the scene with San Domenico Worshiping the Crucifix on the back portico near the church's entrance.

To the right of the entrance, go into the long Sala dell'Ospizio, or Hospice Hall, which collects an incomparable series of panel paintings, including some majestic altar paintings. It is like a never-ending dream: starting with the scene of the blessed dancing around in a giant garden in the green garden of Earthly Paradise, continuing with the Universal Judgment on the left, up to the light panel of the Deposition from the Cross.

Near the back of the room you'll find lovely small scenes decorating the closet doors where the liturgical silverware of the nearby church were kept, which is the Santissima Annunziata. At the back you can admire the Tabernacle of the Linaiuoli, a marble niche carved by Lorenzo Ghiberti, with its doors painted by Fra Angelico.

Once you leave the Sala dell'Ospizio, walk around the cloister where you can visit other, very interesting rooms. The large Chapter House where the friars would meet has a monumental Crucifixion at the back, painted of course by Fra Angelico in 1442. After passing through the former kitchen and washroom, go to the vast Large Refectory with paintings from the 1500s. The final masterpiece is the Last Supper fresco painted around 1480 by Domenico Ghirlandaio, which can be found in the Small Refectory.

FUN FACT: near the Chapter House door you can see the bell that was struck upon the early death of Lorenzo the Magnificent in 1492; for this reason it was nicknamed "cry-baby"!