Chapel of Santa Fina

The Saint Fina Chapel (Italian: Cappella di Santa Fina) is an Early Renaissance chapel in the right aisle of the Collegiate church of Santa Maria Assunta, located in San Gimignano, Tuscany, Italy. It was designed by Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano in 1468 to enshrine the relics of Saint Fina. The side walls of the chapel are painted in fresco by Domenico Ghirlandaio with two scenes from her life, executed between 1477 and 1478.

After her death on 12 March 1253 the veneration of Fina dei Ciardi quickly grew to become the protector and saint patron of the city of San Gimignano. Her burial place, now close to the door of the sacristy, lay at that time in a small cloister, adjacent to the cemetery. In 1325 the commune of San Gimignano approved the erection of an altar within the church to contain her relics.

In 1457 the city decided to build "a beautiful and honourable" chapel dedicated to Santa Fina to enshrine her relics. Works proceeded slowly until Giuliano da Maiano was summoned from Florence in 1468 to furnish the commune with a suitable design for the chapel. Giuliano was paid the sum of 11 lire 6 soldi.

A papal bull issued by Pope Sixtus IV on October 1481, confirmed by Pope Paul III in 1538, permitted the public cult and veneration of Saint Fina as one of the saints of the Catholic Church. The chapel was consecrated by the Bishop of Pistoia on 4 October 1488.

The architecture, completed in 1472, is inspired by Antonio Rossellino's Cardinal of Portugal Chapel in the basilica of San Miniato al Monte in Florence. It is one bay deep, each wall being defined by an arched recess. The arches support an entablature decorated by a color terracotta frieze with seraphim. Above the entablature are lunettes which include circular windows.

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