In Florentine architecture, the scarsella is a small apse with a rectangular or square plan which protrudes outside the main structure of a church. The term scarsella, in ancient Florentine, means "purse", in particular the leather purse for money.Ref? Due to its local origin, the term is very scarcely used, and for the most part exclusively for the eastern apse of Florence Baptistery.
Overview The Baptistery of Florence which, built with an octagonal plan, initially equipped with a curved eastern apse, was replaced by a two-storeyed rectangular construction "in the 11th century or early 13th century". The term was also used for the medieval Cappellone degli Spagnoli in Santa Maria Novella, Florence, which served as a model for Filippo Brunelleschi to design the plans of the Sagrestia Vecchia of San Lorenzo and of the free-standing Pazzi Chapel, although in both cases the apses are flanked by sacristies. The impression of a part protruding from the main space is limited to the inside, while the ground plan of the structure is a closed rectangle. Brunelleschi's studies with the simple forms of circle and square lead to 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. Another example of a protruding multistoreyed apse is the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli in Venice.
See also Apse – Semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome
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