Postcard Florence, Basilica of Santa Croce and statue of Dante, Edizioni Z.B.

Italian postcard from the nineteen-twenties or thirties showing a sepia phototype of the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, seen from the Piazza Santa Croce. The image shows the richly decorated neo-Gothic marble façade of the Franciscan basilica, with its polychrome geometric patterns and central rose window, flanked by two lower side aisles and on the right the free-standing campanile. In the left foreground on the square, the statue of Dante Alighieri by Enrico Pazzi, unveiled in 1865. On the square itself several pedestrians by the stone benches, with a cyclist visible on the right. On the verso the caption "Firenze - Chiesa di S. Croce e Statua di Dante." and the publisher's mark "Ediz. Z.B. - Firenze", with the bilingual printing indication "Imprimé en Italie / Printed in Italy". The verso is unwritten and unposted. The card is in good condition.

The Basilica of Santa Croce was built from 1294 onward to designs by Arnolfo di Cambio, the same architect who designed the Palazzo Vecchio, and was consecrated in 1442. The church is considered the largest Franciscan church in the world and is popularly known as the Pantheon of Florence, where among others Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei, Machiavelli, Rossini and the poet Ugo Foscolo are buried. The neo-Gothic marble façade was only completed between 1853 and 1863 by Niccolò Matas, financed by the English philanthropist Francis Sloane; the design was criticised because Matas incorporated a Star of David into it, a reference to his Jewish origins, which was considered controversial within a Christian church. The statue of Dante Alighieri by Enrico Pazzi was unveiled on 14 May 1865 on the occasion of the six-hundredth anniversary of the poet's birth, an event that contributed to the choice of Florence as the temporary capital of unified Italy that same year. The monument stood from 1865 to 1968 in the centre of the Piazza Santa Croce, before being moved to the left side of the church; this postcard documents the original location.