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"The titular church of the Medici family, S Lorenzo is regarded by many as the quintessential Renaissance church. The rebuilding of the old Romanesque church of S Lorenzo, originally consecrated by St Ambrose in the 4th century, was largely carried out in the 15th century, with additions in the 16th and 17th. The Signoria gave permission for the enlargement of the existing church in 1418, and it has been argued that church officials were persuaded that the fabric should be extended in order to accommodate chapels for such families of standing as the Neroni, Ginori, Rondinelli, della Stufa, Nelli and Ciai. Although Filippo Brunelleschi was traditionally associated with the design of the new church, he is now thought to have designed only the Old Sacristy in the north-west corner, commissioned by Giovanni di Averardo de’ Medici and the first part of the new fabric to be erected. The rest of the rebuilding work may have been conceived on the basis of his designs, but it is now thought more likely to have been carried out under the influence of such followers as Michelozzo."exterior, view from the east, with San Lorenzo at the left