The Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova remains the oldest and most influential hospital in Florence, Italy. Founded in 1288, this hospital was built from humble origins to a highly efficient, flourishing,
Statue of Monna Tessa at the entrance of the hospital
Fresco by Antonio Pomarancio in Santa Maria Nuova hospital, Adoration of the Shepherds 1614
Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, Florence, Italy. Drawing by B. Wellcome
Entrance to the Cloister of Bones
Beatrice Portinari
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Beatrice "Bice" di Folco Portinari was an Italian woman who has been commonly identified as the principal inspiration for Dante Alighieri's Vita Nuova, and is also identified with the Beatrice who act
Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova
…at her tombstone alongside Folco, located in the Cloister of the Bones, and by her marble statue at the entrance of the hospital. Folco's daughter, Beatrice (1265-1290), was the inspiration for Dante Alighieri's (1265-1321) Divine Comedy, though Beatrice and Dante were both married to other people and only…
Beata Beatrix by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (c. 1870)
Beatrice appears to Virgil at the start of Inferno, in an illustration by Gustave Doré.
Dante and Beatrice, by Henry Holiday (1883). Dante looks longingly at Beatrice (in center) passing by with friend Lady Vanna (red) along the Arno River