The Vespucci as art patrons. Part 2

Part 2. The family chapel

The Vespucci patronage was not limited to the family palace but involved also the religious sphere. In the district where the Vespucci lived, Borgo Ognissanti, stands the homonymous church (Chiesa di Ognissanti) that hosts the Vespucci chapel painted and completed by Ghirlandaio in 1471-1472. The decoration consists of a lower fresco, the Deposition, and an upper one, the Madonna della Misericordia.  The latter is doubtless the most interesting of the two: the lunetta in fact portrays the Vespucci family underneath the protective robe of the Madonna. The fresco appears to be historically important as is the only group depiction of the Vespucci family known so far and it allows us to recognize some members such as Amerigo and Simonetta Vespucci.  Moreover it has been suggested that the fresco might be in some sort of relation with the Waldseemüller Map  (Library of Congress, Washington): the shape of the Virgin’s robe seems in fact to resemble the shape of the Map. These aspects and the possible connections between the robe and the map will be tackled in further posts.

                                                             Ghirlandaio, Vespucci chapel

In the church is also preserved a fresco representing Sant’Agostino attributed to Botticelli . The saint seems to have been commissioned by the Vespucci as in upper part of the depiction is visible the family coats of arms featuring the wasps.

Botticelli, St. Agostino