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54-674: These are not to be confused with the Magi Chapel in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi , then the main Medici home, that houses a famous cycle of frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli , painted around 1459. The Sagrestia Nuova or New Sacristy, also known simply as the Medici Chapel, was intended by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici and his cousin Pope Leo X as a mausoleum or mortuary chapel for members of

108-559: A concealed corridor with drawings by Michelangelo on its walls was discovered under the New Sacristy. The octagonal Cappella dei Principi , surmounted by a tall dome 59 metres high, is the distinguishing feature of San Lorenzo when seen from a distance. It is on the same axis as the nave and chancel to which it provides the equivalent of an apsidal chapel. Its entrance is from the exterior, in Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini, and through

162-556: Is a chapel in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi of Florence , Italy. Its walls are almost entirely covered by a famous cycle of frescoes by the Renaissance master Benozzo Gozzoli , painted around 1459 for the Medici family , the effective rulers of Florence. The chapel is on the piano nobile of the palace and was one of the first rooms to be decorated after the completion of the building, designed by Michelozzo . In its original appearance

216-453: Is any of various granites or igneous rocks with coarse-grained crystals such as feldspar or quartz dispersed in a fine-grained silicate -rich, generally aphanitic matrix or groundmass . In its non-geologic, traditional use, the term porphyry usually refers to the purple-red form of this stone, valued for its appearance, but other colours of decorative porphyry are also used such as "green", "black" and "grey". The term porphyry

270-558: Is from the Ancient Greek πορφύρα ( porphyra ), meaning " purple ". Purple was the colour of royalty, and the Roman "imperial porphyry" was a deep purple igneous rock with large crystals of plagioclase . Some authors claimed the rock was the hardest known in antiquity. Thus porphyry was prized for monuments and building projects in Imperial Rome and thereafter. Subsequently, the name

324-728: Is now in Berlin after being sold in the 19th century, while a copy by a follower of Lippi remains in the chapel. The chapel is famous for the series of wall paintings by Benozzo Gozzoli, with the Angels in Adoration in the rectangular apse and the Journey of the Magi in the large hall. The latter is covered in three large frescos, each showing the procession of one of the Three Magi on their way to Bethlehem to see

378-421: Is shown as a peacemaker riding on a donkey. He is preceded by a page in blue with a leopard on his horse - this figure is a scherzo, a joke embedded in a painting, representing Castruccio Castracani , Duca di Lucca, according to C.F. Young’s “The Medici”, with the leopard being the sign of the house of Lucca. Giuliano de' Medici is shown riding a white horse, preceded by an African with a bow. Bearded Balthasar,

432-400: Is the boy directly below him with the distinctive snub nose; Lorenzo's younger brother Giuliano is next to him. With rich Tuscan landscapes filling the rest of the pictorial space, this fresco was designed like contemporary tapestries, a new type of courtly art destined for wealthy patrons. The fortress, in the style of medieval castles, which appears at the highest point of the picture and

486-530: Is the point from which the king's pilgrimage has set out, is similar to the Medicis' country seat in Cafaggiolo , which was again designed by Michelozzo. It is interpreted as Jerusalem, where the procession of the magi started. This was where King Herod had instructed the wise men to search for the child. Gozzoli's patron, Piero de' Medici, felt some of the seraphim were unsuitable, and wanted them painted over. Although

540-509: The De Ceremoniis (mid-10th century), who specified them to be respectively of Constantine the Great , Constantius II , Julian , Jovian , Theodosius I , Arcadius , Aelia Eudoxia , Theodosius II , and Marcian . Of these, most still exist in complete or fragmentary form, despite depredations by later Byzantine Emperors, Crusaders , and Ottoman conquerors . Four presently adorn the facade of

594-623: The Basilica of San Lorenzo , in Florence, Italy, for the de' Medici family . Purple porphyry was used lavishly throughout the opulent chapel as well, with a revetment of marbles, inlaid with other colored marbles and semi-precious stone, that covers the walls completely. Envisioned by Cosimo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1537–1574), it was initiated by Ferdinand I de' Medici , following a design by Matteo Nigetti that won an informal competition held in 1602 by Don Giovanni de' Medici (a son of Cosimo I), which

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648-646: The Monastery of Santes Creus near Tarragona , reuses a porphyry tub or alveus , which has been conjectured to be originally the sarcophagus of Late Roman Emperor Constans in his mausoleum at Centcelles , a nearby site with a well-preserved 4th-century rotunda . In twelfth- and thirteenth-century Sicily , another group of porphyry sarcophagi were produced from the reign of Roger II onward and used for Royal and then Imperial burials, namely those of King Roger II , King William I , Emperor Henry VI , Empress Constance , and Emperor Frederick II . They are all now in

702-642: The Nativity of Jesus . The religious theme was combined with a depiction of several members of the Medici family, their allies and some of the important figures who arrived in Florence for the Council of Florence (1438–1439) several decades earlier. On that occasion the Medici could boast to have facilitated the (abortive, as it turned out) reconciliation between the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches. The luxury of

756-576: The Palermo Cathedral , except William's in Monreale Cathedral . Scholar Rosa Bacile argues that they were carved by a local workshop from porphyry imported from Rome , the latter four plausibly (based on observation of their fluting ) all from a single column shaft that may have been taken from the Baths of Caracalla or the Baths of Diocletian . She notes that these Sicilian porphyry sarcophagi "are

810-889: The QAPF diagram . Rhomb porphyry is found in continental rift areas, including the East African Rift (including Mount Kilimanjaro ), Mount Erebus near the Ross Sea in Antarctica , the Oslo graben in Norway , and south-central British Columbia . To the Romans it was known as Lapis porphyrites . Pliny the Elder 's Natural History (36, 11) affirmed that the "Imperial Porphyry" had been discovered in Egypt during

864-622: The "Porphyra", the official delivery room for use of pregnant Empresses in the Great Palace of Constantinople , giving rise to the phrase "born in the purple". Choosing porphyry as a material was a bold and specific statement for late Imperial Rome. As if it were not enough that porphyry was explicitly for imperial use, the stone's rarity set the emperors apart from their subjects as their superiors. The comparative vividness of porphyry to other stones underscored that these figures were not regular citizens, but many levels above, even gods, and worthy of

918-542: The Byzantine dignitaries is manifest, and shows the impression they would have at the time on the Florentine population. In the apse , the side walls are painted with saints and angels in adoration, where Gozzoli followed the style of his master, Fra Angelico . There are also three thin vertical fresco sections showing the shepherds of the nativity. Having begun the work in the spring-summer of 1459, Benozzo probably completed

972-557: The Council, but were guests of the Medici in Florence in the time the frescoes were painted. After them is a procession of illustrious Florentines, such as the humanists Marsilio Ficino and the Pulci brothers , the members of the Art Guilds and Benozzo himself. The painter looks out at the viewer and can be recognized for the scroll on his red hat, reading Opus Benotii . Little Lorenzo il Magnifico

1026-417: The Medici family, with sculptural personifications of the four times of day that were destined to influence sculptural figures reclining on architraves for many generations to come. The Sagrestia Nuova was entered via a discreet entrance in a corner of San Lorenzo's right transept, now closed. Although it was vaulted over by 1524, the ambitious projects of its sculpture and the intervention of events, such as

1080-437: The Medici family. It balances Filippo Brunelleschi 's Sagrestia Vecchia , the 'Old Sacristy' nestled beside the left transept of San Lorenzo, with which it consciously competes, and shares its format of a cubical space surmounted by a dome, of gray pietra serena and whitewashed walls. It was the first essay in architecture (1519–1524) of Michelangelo , who also designed its monuments that are dedicated to certain members of

1134-590: The Procession of the Oldest King. After the stairs were finished, the cut out elements were mounted on a corner of the wall projecting into the room. During the course of this, the oldest king's horse was cut up and mounted on two different segments of the wall. 43°46′30.49″N 11°15′21.18″E  /  43.7751361°N 11.2558833°E  / 43.7751361; 11.2558833 Porphyry (geology) Porphyry ( / ˈ p ɔːr f ə r i / POR -fə-ree )

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1188-453: The altars and vases and fountain basins reused in the Renaissance and dispersed as far as Kyiv . The Romans also used "Green Porphyry" ( lapis Lacedaemonius , from Greece, also known today as Serpentine ), and "Black Porphyry" from the same Egyptian quarry. After the fifth century the quarry was lost to sight for many centuries. Byzantium scholar Alexander Vasiliev suggested this was

1242-507: The artist agreed to do this, it was never actually done. In 1659, the Riccardi family bought the Palazzo Medici and undertook some structural changes. This included, in 1689, the building of an exterior flight of stairs leading up to the first floor. For this purpose the entrance to the chapel had to be moved. During the process, two sections of wall were cut out of the south western corner, in

1296-487: The chapel was perfectly symmetrical and had its entrance through the central door, which today is closed. Inside, the chapel is divided into two juxtaposed squares: a large hall and a raised rectangular apse with an altar and two small lateral sacristies. Begun around 1449–50, the chapel was probably completed around 1459 with the precious ceiling of inlaid wood, painted and generously gilded by Pagno di Lapo Portigiano , according to Michelozzo's design. The latter also designed

1350-882: The chapel. Later, in 1545, they were installed by Niccolò Tribolo . By order of Cosimo I, Giorgio Vasari and Bartolomeo Ammannati finished the work by 1555. Four Medici tombs were intended for the project, but those of Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother Giuliano (buried beneath the altar at the entrance wall) were never begun. The magnificent existing tombs are those of two more recently deceased and less well-known family members whose careers had been cut tragically short by their comparatively early deaths: Giuliano di Lorenzo, Duke of Nemours (d. 1514, aged 37) and his nephew (d. 1519, age 27) Lorenzo di Piero, Duke of Urbino , whose daughter Catherine de' Medici became Queen of France). The architectural components of these tombs are similar and with sculptures offering contrast. In 1976,

1404-773: The consequence of the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and the subsequent troubles in Egypt . The scientific members of the French Expedition under Napoleon sought it in vain, and it was only when the Eastern Desert was reopened for study under Muhammad Ali that the site was rediscovered by the English Egyptologists James Burton and John Gardner Wilkinson in 1823. Porphyry was extensively used in Byzantine imperial monuments, for example in Hagia Sophia and in

1458-528: The dark, in the dim light of the candles. The painting is dedicated to a sacred subject but rich in traces of pomp and secular elegance. Hosts of angels sing and adore while the magnificent procession of the Three Kings approaches Bethlehem, accompanied by their respective entourages as they enjoy the scene of a noble hunting party with falcons and felines along the way. The sumptuous and varied costumes with their princely finishing make this pictorial series one of

1512-580: The designs of the revetment that entirely cover the walls. The result was disapproved of by 18th- and 19th-century visitors, but has come to be appreciated for an example of the taste of its time. Six grand sarcophagi are empty; the Medici remains are interred in the crypt below. In sixteen compartments of the dado are coats of arms of Tuscan cities under Medici control. In the niches that were intended to hold portrait sculptures of Medici, two were executed by Pietro Tacca (1626–1642) that feature Ferdinando I and Cosimo II. Magi Chapel The Magi Chapel

1566-510: The execution by the aged Buontalenti. A true expression of court art, it was the result of collaboration among designers and patrons. For the execution of its astonishing revetment of marbles inlaid with colored marbles and semi-precious stone , the Opificio delle Pietre Dure (the grand ducal hardstone workshop) was established. The art of commessi , as it was called in Florence, assembled jig-sawn fragments of specimen stones and porphyry to form

1620-640: The eye, as in granite . Most igneous rocks have some degree of porphyritic texture. This is because most magma from which igneous rock solidifies is produced by partial melting of a mixture of different minerals. At first the mixed melt slowly cools deep in the crust. The magma begins crystallizing, the highest melting point minerals closest to the overall composition first, in a process called fractional crystallization . This forms phenocrysts , which usually have plenty of room for growth, and form large, well-shaped crystals with characteristic crystal faces ( euhedral crystals). If they are different in density to

1674-522: The flooring of marble mosaic work divided by elaborate geometric design, which due to the extraordinary value of the materials ( porphyries , granites , etc.) affirmed the Medicis' desire to emulate the magnificence of the Roman basilicas and the Florentine Baptistry . The first pictorial element in the chapel was the altar panel bearing Filippo Lippi 's Adoration in the Forest . This painting

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1728-408: The low vaulted crypt planned by Bernardo Buontalenti before plans for the chapel above were made. The opulent Cappella dei Principi, an idea formulated by Cosimo I de' Medici , was put into effect by Ferdinand I . It was designed by Matteo Nigetti , following some sketches tendered to an informal competition of 1602 by Don Giovanni de' Medici , the natural son of Cosimo I, which were altered in

1782-441: The main building of the İstanbul Archaeology Museums , including one whose rounded shape led Alexander Vasiliev to suggest attribution to Emperor Julian on the basis of Constantine Porphyrogenitus's description. Vasiliev conjectures that the nine imperial sarcophagi, including one which carries a crux ansata or Egyptian cross , were carved in Egypt before shipment to Constantinople. The imperial porphyry sarcophagi tradition

1836-417: The middle Magus, rides a white horse on the south wall. He is portrayed with the same facial features as Byzantine emperor John VIII Palaiologos . It is thought by some that the three pages behind him represent Piero 's daughters, Nannina , Bianca and Maria , while others argue that the faces of those young women are more likely to be amongst the rest of the Medici portraits. On the east wall, Caspar,

1890-492: The most fascinating testimonies of art and costume of all time. Melchior, the oldest Magus, rides on the west wall leading the procession. Traditionally, his features have been read as those of Joseph, Patriarch of Constantinople , who died in Florence during the Council; but they could also be those of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor , who helped end the Great Schism by convoking the Council of Constance in 1414. Like Cosimo, he

1944-505: The painter to work with meticulous care, almost as if he was engraving, like the goldsmith he had been in Ghiberti 's workshop. This sheer craftsmanship is evident not just in the precious materials of jewelry, fabrics, and harnesses, but even in the trees laden with fruit, the meadows spangled with flowers, the variegated plumage of the birds, and the multicolored wings of the angels. Finally, leaves of pure gold were applied generously to shine in

1998-456: The phenocrysts, as they crowd each other out. The significance of porphyritic texture as an indication that magma forms through different stages of cooling was first recognized by the Canadian geologist, Norman L. Bowen , in 1928. Porphyritic texture is particularly common in andesite , with the most prominent phenocrysts typically composed of plagioclase feldspar . Plagioclase has almost

2052-431: The phenocrysts. The crystallization of the phenocrysts during fractional crystallization changes the composition of the remaining liquid magma, moving it closer to the eutectic point , with a mixed composition of minerals. As the temperature continues to decrease, this point is reached, and the rock is entirely solidified. The simultaneous crystallization of the remaining minerals produces the finer-grained matrix surrounding

2106-712: The reign of Tiberius; an inscription recently discovered and dated from AD 18 mentions the Roman Caius Cominius Leugas as the finder of this new quarry. Ancient Egyptians used other decorative porphyritic stones of a very close composition and appearance, but apparently remained unaware of the presence of the Roman grade although it was located in their own country. It was also sometimes used in Minoan art , and as early as 1850 BC on Crete in Minoan Knossos there were large column bases made of porphyry. It

2160-499: The remaining melt, these phenocrysts usually settle out of solution, eventually creating cumulates ; however if the partially crystallized magma is then erupted to the surface as a lava, the remainder of the melt is quickly cooled around the phenocrysts and crystallizes much more rapidly to form a very fine-grained or glassy matrix. Porphyry can also form even from magma that completely solidifies while still underground. The groundmass will be visibly crystalline, though not as large as

2214-429: The respect they expected. Porphyry made the emperors unapproachable in terms of power and nature, belonging to another world, the world of the mighty gods, present for a short time on earth. Porphyry also stood in for the physical purple robes Roman emperors wore to show status, because of its purple colouring. Similar to porphyry, purple fabric was extremely difficult to make, as what we now call Tyrian purple required

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2268-419: The same density as basaltic magma, so plagioclase phenocrysts are likely to remain suspended in the magma rather than settling out. Rhomb porphyry is a volcanic rock with gray-white large porphyritic rhombus -shaped phenocrysts of feldspar (commonly anorthoclase ) embedded in a very fine-grained red-brown matrix . The composition of rhomb porphyry places it in the trachyte – latite classification of

2322-452: The temporary exile of the Medici (1527), the death of Giulio, eventually Pope Clement VII, and the permanent departure of Michelangelo for Rome in 1534, meant that Michelangelo never finished it. The Madonna and Child was the first sculpture Michelangelo completed for the project, and although most of the following statues had been carved by the time of Michelangelo's departure, they had not been put in place, being left in disarray across

2376-442: The use of rare sea snails to make the dye. The colour itself reminded the public how to behave in the presence of the emperors, with respect bordering on worship for the self-proclaimed god-kings. A uniquely prestigious use of porphyry was its choice as material for imperial sarcophagi in the 4th and early 5th centuries. That tradition appears to have been started with Diocletian 's porphyry sarcophagus in his mausoleum , which

2430-519: The very first examples of medieval free-standing secular tombs in the West, and therefore play a unique role within the history of Italian sepulchral art (earlier and later tombs are adjacent to, and dependent on walls)." Six grand porphyry sarcophagi are featured along the walls of the octagonal Cappella dei Principi (Chapel of the Princes) that was built as one of two chapels in the architectural complex of

2484-418: The work rapidly over the space of a few months, with the help of at least one assistant, under the supervision of Piero di Cosimo de' Medici . It was probably Piero who suggested that the artist should use Gentile da Fabriano 's Adoration of the Magi as a model for the frescoes. The extraordinary complexity and subtlety of the technique of execution, in which true fresco alternated with dry fresco, permitted

2538-563: The youngest Magus, leads the end of the procession on a white horse. This figure has often been taken for an idealized Lorenzo il Magnifico , who was born in 1449 and so was still a boy when the fresco was completed. Closely following Caspar are the contemporary head of the family, Piero the Gouty on a white horse, and devout family founder Cosimo on a humble donkey. Then come Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta and Galeazzo Maria Sforza , respectively lord of Rimini and Pavia . They did not take part in

2592-540: Was altered somewhat during execution by Buontalenti . The tomb of Napoleon at Les Invalides in Paris , designed by architect Louis Visconti , is centered on the deceased emperor's sarcophagus that often has been described as made of red porphyry although this is incorrect. Napoleon's sarcophagus is made of quartzite , however, its pedestal is made of green andesite porphyry from Vosges . The sarcophagus of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington at St Paul's Cathedral

2646-635: Was called "Imperial" as the mines, as elsewhere in the empire, were owned by the emperor. The red porphyry all came from the Gabal Abu Dukhan quarry (or Mons Porphyrites ) in the Eastern Desert of Egypt , from 600 million-year-old andesite of the Arabian-Nubian Shield . The road from the quarry westward to Qena (Roman Maximianopolis) on the Nile, which Ptolemy put on his second-century map,

2700-401: Was completed in 1858. and was made from a single piece of Cornish porphyry, of a type called luxullianite , which was found in a field near Lostwithiel . In countries where many automobiles have studded winter tires such as Sweden, Finland, and Norway, it is common that highways are paved with asphalt made of porphyry aggregate to make the wearing course withstand the extreme wear from

2754-835: Was destroyed when the building was repurposed as a church but of which probable fragments are at the Archaeological Museum in Split, Croatia . The oldest and best-preserved ones are now conserved at the Vatican Museums and known as the Sarcophagi of Helena and Constantina . Nine other imperial porphyry sarcophagi were long held in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople . They were described by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in

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2808-567: Was emulated by Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great (454-526), whose mausoleum in Ravenna still contains a porphyry tub that was used as his sarcophagus. Similarly Charles the Bald , King of West Francia and Roman Emperor , was buried at Saint-Denis in a porphyry tub which may be the same one known as " Dagobert 's tub" ( cuve de Dagobert ), now in the Louvre . The tomb of Peter III of Aragon , in

2862-711: Was first described by Strabo , and it is to this day known as the Via Porphyrites , the Porphyry Road, its track marked by the hydreumata , or watering wells that made it viable in this utterly dry landscape. It was used for all the red porphyry columns in Rome, the togas on busts of emperors , the panels in the revetment of the Pantheon , the Column of Constantine in Istanbul as well as

2916-482: Was given to any igneous rocks with large crystals. The adjective porphyritic now refers to a certain texture of igneous rock regardless of its chemical and mineralogical composition or its color. Its chief characteristic is a large difference in size between the tiny matrix crystals and the much larger phenocrysts. Porphyries may be aphanites or phanerites , that is, the groundmass may have microscopic crystals as in basalt , or crystals easily distinguishable with

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