ALBERTI, Leon Battista
(b. 1404, Genova, d. 1472, Roma)

Façade of the Tempietto

1467
Marble
Cappella Ruccelai, San Pancrazio, Florence

Giovanni Rucellai (1403-1481), head of the Rucellai family of bankers, commissioned Leon Battista Alberti to build a chapel on the side of the church of San Pancrazio (the only part still consecrated today), which was finished in 1467. This includes the notable tempietto del Santo Sepolcro (Small temple of the Holy Sepulchre, inspired by the church of the same name in Jerusalem), also by Alberti, covered by polychrome marbles and tarsias.