The Small Temple of the Holy Sepulchre, a funerary monument in Florence, housed in the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, the only remaining consecrated part of the former church of San Pancrazio.Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai is buried in the temple, and the architecture is by Leon Battista Alberti. It was built between 1457 and 1467. The temple's shape is inspired, in scale, by the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The marble inlays of the exterior decoration hark back to the Florentine Romanesque tradition.The style of the panels is sober yet highly elegant, with decorative motifs in white and green marble, each unique. The decorations are centrally based geometric patterns, inspired by the circle and other geometric figures repeated in symmetrical and regular patterns. According to Alberti, geometry inspired meditation on the mysteries of faith.Detail of one tile.
