Santa Maria Novella is one of the first historical Churches of Florence, in which the Gothic characteristics are evident such as the glass decorated windows and the coverage with the groin vault and pointed arcs.
It is located close to the railways station of SMN, named after this beautiful monument. Foundation goes back to the thirteenth century by the Dominicans. The construction works continued until the half of 1300 but the official consecration was done in the 1420 by Pope Martino V. The building was rehashed several times: the most important works that followed the consecration were the completion of the facade by Leon Battista Alberti at the end of the fifteenths century and the internal works for the definition of the lateral altars by Giorgio Vasari, one century later.
From the short history described, it is important to underline that in this 
Basilica worked some of the most important names of the Italian historical art: it may be considered a real museum in which we found frescoes from the greatest masters of renaissance from Filippino Lippi to the Ghirlandaio, from the wooden crucifix of Brunelleschi to the funeral monument Rucellai of the Ghiberti.
One, amongst the most important artworks, that decorates the internal of this Basilica is “The Trinity” of Masaccio. This famous fresco is located on the wall of the left aisle and was realized between the 1426 and the 1428. The subject represented is the trinity: God (the Father) hold up the Croix where dead Christ is deposed (the Son) on which head is represented a white dove (the Holy Spirit). Aside the central scene we find the Holy Mary and Saint John while looking down at the extreme of the artwork buyers are represented. In the lower register of the artwork a sarcophagus creates a strong contrast with the upper part: in fact Masaccio achieves one of the highest artistic expression of the 1400. In fact with the definition of architectonic space realizes the frame and background and with artistic expressions of the cast’s faces, dominated by a deep self-control, the artist presents Death in her most concrete aspect, the skeleton.
The spirituality and the materiality of life even though separated by the architectonic structure reveals an indissoluble connection to which nobody can escape.