Formerly being a church, now a sculpture museum, the Museo Marino Marini is a museum I recently spotted. The museum is located in the very center of Florence, where the Via della Spada is, dotted with a number of local shops, ends in a small square that is the entrance of the museum, not many people unfortunately know of, even locals (I checked!).
The Chiesa di San Pancrazio, the building hosting the museum, was built in the early Christian era by Charlemagne. It was recorded in AD 931, and around 1808 it had been a lottery shop, a court and a cigarette factory. In recent times, it became the host of the collection of the famous sculptor Mario Marini, yet it still retains a family chapel: the Rucellai family one, personally it is maybe the main reason to visit the museum.


If you do not know the name of Marino Marini, or do not recall him, do not worry as you will very soon spot some of his main themes – the statue of horse riding and big naked woman – recognizing him as the master of this particular way of casting.

I was not able to appreciate the artist’s work as much the setting up of the exhibit: a wooden and metal path crossing the high space of the former church: being the building so tall, they could stage a three-level maze of corridors, stairs, and platform, hosting dozens of exhibits while keeping the whole structure extremely light. You would never feel crowded there, walking midair, plenty of view on all sides, including down!
Rucellai Chapel
The rich patron was Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai, who commissioned Leon Battista Alberti to build a chapel inside the San Pancrazio Church, including his own tomb and the very fine marble tomb referring to the church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
Entering from a small door on the side, the view is stunning
The tomb is entirely covered in marble, the elliptical shape lengthened on the edge by the Florentine lily. The beauty resides in the elaborate carving of the marble layers, all enriched by a variety of decorative patterns, very harmonious and that cannot but remind of Chiesa di Santa Maria novella.

Corinthian style columns are echoing the facade of the church
One of the main patterns is the sail, the symbol of the Rucellai family
The facade has a very small wooden door, from where, peeking inside, you can see the coffin, and the walls inside painted in sky blue sky, a tiny hole to let the feeblest light, while an opening on top is a small dome modeling.
The auditorium outside the chapel has a very detailed video presentation explaining the making of the Chapel, in original Italian with English subtitles
After the video, you will have plenty of information about the Rucellai family story, so you may go see the nearby ( 2 minutes away) Palazzo Rucellai, built by Alberti too.
Tour information
Address: Piazza di San Pancrazio (Via della Spada mid section)
Tickets: 6 Euro / person
Business hours: Monday, Saturday, Sunday 10: 00-19: 00
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
10: 00-13: 00;
closed on Tuesday

Chinese

城中隐匿好去处 | 佛罗伦萨San Pancrazio博物馆
San Pancrazio是我无意中发现的一家小型博物馆，前身是教堂，现在是雕塑博物馆，全称是Museo Marino Marini。博物馆坐落在佛罗伦萨的市中心，所在的Via della Spada散落着若干很有个性的小店吸引着往来人群，就在这条街中段的博物馆却鲜少有人去过，甚至一些本地人也知之甚少。

博物馆的前身——圣庞加爵堂（Chiesa di San Pancrazio）由查理曼大帝建于早期基督教时代，公元931年就有了记载，1808年起曾依次做过彩票店、法庭和卷烟厂。现在是著名雕塑家Mario Marini作品的博物馆，背后还保留有一个丧葬堂：鲁切拉小堂，内有鲁切拉墓，个人认为值回一半票价的就是这个墓室了。
如果你对Marino Marini这个姓名清奇的雕塑家不了解，没关系，我也不介绍，因为你看展五分钟，就会发现这位大师对骑马铜像和胖胖的裸女情有独钟。
随意感受下

小编不是很能欣赏这位艺术家的作品，在博物馆走了一圈，却发现这个教堂的改造工程做得很好，由于教堂很高，因此搭建了三层回廊形的楼梯，每层都可以放几十件展品。但是完全不觉得拥挤，反而很通透，层次感强。

因为我对建筑是个门外女汉纸，所以也只能谈谈自己的直观感受了，内行的小伙伴们别笑话。

The Last but not the Least
鲁切拉小堂和鲁切拉墓 | Cappella del Santo Sepolcro & Tempietto del Santo Sepolcro
鲁切拉小堂是乔瓦尼·保罗·鲁切拉（Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai ）委托莱昂·巴蒂斯塔·阿尔贝蒂在圣庞加爵堂背后建造的，同时委托他打造自己的墓室，这座非常精美的大理石墓室模仿了耶路撒冷的圣墓教堂。
来到小堂的门口，一眼就被惊艳

墓室由大理石打造，外形是椭圆加长方形，以佛罗伦萨百合造型修饰顶部的边缘，正方形的大理石块雕刻着各种图案装饰，与佛罗伦萨的新圣母教堂设计相同。

柯林斯柱式，与教堂的立面相呼应

其中的图案之一是船帆，也是鲁切拉家族的标志

立面有一扇很小的木门，从这里向内部看去，可以看到鲁切拉的棺材，墓室顶涂绘着蓝色的星空，中间有个圆孔透光，圆孔上部是小圆顶造型。

小堂外面的放映室有很详细的视频介绍，意大利语原文+英语字幕

看完视频，满脑子还都是鲁切拉家族的族徽和故事，走出博物馆2分钟远就是鲁切拉宫（Palazzo Rucellai），也是阿尔贝蒂所建。

游览信息
地址：Piazza di San Pancrazio (Via della Spada中段)
门票：6欧/人
营业时间：周一、周六、周日 10:00-19:00，周三、周四、周五 10:00-13:00；周二闭馆