One of Florence’s only Renaissance-style church façades, the façade of the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella was designed by the great architect and theoretician Leon Battista Alberti. From its classically inspired forms to the abundance of heraldic symbolism of both the Rucellai and Medici families, all the way to the inscription celebrating the patron of the façade, Giovanni Rucellai, the façade is a perfect reflection of the beautiful complexity of Renaissance Florence. Buona visita!