Allegedly built where Saint Ambrose would have stayed when in Florence in 393, the church is first recorded in 998, but is probably older.

[1] A legend says that on 30 December 1230 a chalice which had not been cleaned was, the next day, found to contain blood rather than wine by Uguccione, the parish priest.

Francesco Granacci (1469–1543), an Italian painter of the Renaissance and lifelong friend of Michelangelo Buonarroti, is buried in this church.

The church contains numerous frescos, altarpieces, and other artwork attributed to Andrea Orcagna, Agnolo Gaddi, Niccolò Gerini, Lorenzo di Bicci, Masaccio, Filippo Lippi, Sandro Botticelli, Alesso Baldovinetti, Fra Bartolomeo, and Leonardo Tassini.

[2] Filippo Lippi's Incoronation of the Virgin, executed for the church's main altar in 1441–1447, is now at the Uffizi.