Medici Chapels (Italian: Cappelle medicee) are two structures at the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, with the purpose of celebrating the Medici family, patrons of the church and Grand Dukes of Tuscany.
The floors, walls and ceilings of the chapel are decorated with marbles of different colors. The patterns are intricate and pleasing to the eye, and the masonry is exquisite.
The House of Medici was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century.
The Medici family were patrons of Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Machiavelli, Galileo and Francesco Redi among many others in the arts and sciences.
Sagrestia Nuova, which means “New Sacristy” in English, was the first essay in architecture by Michelangelo.
Michelangelo also designed its monuments that are dedicated to certain members of the Medici family, with sculptural figures of the four times of day.
The dungeon of the Medici Chapels has been converted into a museum, displaying the remains of the Medici family and its history.
Most of the exhibits are reliquaries inlaid with gold and precious stones, which are exquisite. A reliquary, also referred to as a shrine, is a container for relics.
