This was the last church that I managed to take a photo of the interior, while on our visit to Florence last year 2016. I had found, that in Venice and Florence, most of the churches did not allow photography, I did find a couple, and a couple I did cheat and took a couple of quick shots. This is what happened in this wonderful little church, I cheated, a great big sign with a camera and a cross through it. I was’nt going to take a photo but the transept arches were so beautifully decorated, that when I got to the door, the lady watching, left her station and turned her back as she walked to a door, so I took one quick photo, hoping for the best. I would have loved to have taken close ups, but the photo came out better than I thought. I know they are religious sites, but the amount of tourist that visit the churches, they are hardly the nice quite praying places anymore, so why not make a bit of money from all those people who want take photos. Anyway rant over, and following, a little history of the church.
Originally a chapel to St Anne, then the church of San Michele, and now called San Carlo, this church was built at the expense of the Company of the Laudesi to provide the consecrated altar not yet present in their grain market/tabernacle of Orsanmichele opposite. It was built 1349 to 1352 by Neri di Fioraventi and Benci di Cionne. Tall and square and plain with worn fresco decoration and scenes in the transept arches. Niccolo di Pietro Gerini’s Entombment and Resurrection of Christ of c. 1385/90 recently returned from restoration and looking fine ( which is on the back wall of the alter).
The only photos of the Orsanmichele, opposite the San Carlo, that I could take were a few exterior photos, there was no way that I could take any interior photos of this wonderful church. I have found a photo of interior that I can post. The church was built as a grain market in 1336 and finished in 1347. In 1380 it was converted into a church and finished 1404. It is big, and more like two churches together, full of lovely items, but definitely no photos and too many watching eyes to be able to take even one.
Echoes of the Past 
Thanks for these, Lynne — sadly I never got to see inside of these as our kids might well have been ‘churched-out’ by the time we’d seen inside all the better known churches.
The queues were so long for the top churches, that I just took some exterior shots and went in search of some out of the way ones. Glad you enjoyed the photos, just wished there could have been more 🙂
I understand your frustration a not being able to take pictures,beautiful things need to be photographed. We had an old church burned down a month ago, by a fire bug, there were a few people who had beautiful photos of the lovely old building, so at least it will be remembered.
How sad to loose a lovely church in the way, so glad that at least there is a record of it 🙂