Scarsella (architecture)

In architecture, the scarsella is a small apse with a rectangular or square plan which protrudes outside the main structure.^[1][2] The term scarsella, in ancient Florentine, means "purse", in particular the leather purse for money.

Altar with stained-glass window in the Pazzi Chapel in Florence

Overview

We have an example of this in the Baptistery of Florence which, initially built with an octagonal plan, was then equipped with a rectangular construction attached to the original building. Another medieval scarsella is that of the Cappellone degli Spagnoli in Santa Maria Novella, also in Florence, which served as a model for Filippo Brunelleschi to design the plans of the Sagrestia Vecchia of San Lorenzo and of the Pazzi Chapel.^[3] Brunelleschi studied a model of the chapel in which the base was square and the scarsella opened in the center of one of the walls, with the side dimension equal to a third of the chapel and with an area equal, therefore, to a one ninth of the entire chapel area. This scheme proved to be successful and was actively used by the great architects of the Renaissance, especially for centrally-planned buildings. An early example of a monumental scale is the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Carceri in Prato designed by Giuliano da Sangallo in which the presbyteral area composes a sort of large scarsella. Another example of a scarsella is the apse of the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli in Venice.

Gallery

See also

• Apse