Beatae Virginis Mariae communis Gangalandi, the first confraternity of the five dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Gangalandi, was active already beginning in . The confraternities were inspired by the work of “Messer Pietro da Verona” (Master Peter of Verona), a Dominican and steadfast opponent of the Cathar heresy. He had been sent to Florence by Pope Innocent iv in , and founded the first Confraternity of Santa Maria della Misericordia in Florence whose aim was to bring relief to the people. In the priory of San Martino was made a provostship by order of the archbishop of Florence Francesco Gaetano Incontri. In Cardinal Alfonso Maria Mistrangelo granted it the title of parish, but the reforming spirit of Cardinal Elia della Costa suppressed the parish in favor of the provostship. In the second half of the th century, an important page was written by Pietro Leopoldo of Lorraine-Austria (Vienna - ), son of Maria Teresa of Austria and Francesco I of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany between 6 and and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Italy until . Pietro Leopoldo implemented the motu proprio reform that led to the abolition of religious orders, religious confraternities, and lay congregations. The policy of suppression was also repeated by Napoleon after the French empire annexed Tuscany, with the aim of reining in public debt as well as financing the costly French military campaigns. With the Hapsburg-Lorraine restoration in Florence ( ), the sales
from the Napoleonic period were not challenged, except in particular cases. Information on the th century is meager except for the last decades when the ancient disputes between the Church of San Giovanni Battista in Signa and the Church of San Martino re-emerged and the fact that in the latter was raised to a parish church. Subsequent major architectural changes took place under the parish priest Mario Nistri who, in the years between the s and s – under the auspices of the competent authorities – undertook a restoration which radically transformed the interior and eliminated the altars to the sides of the Alberti apse, as they altered the purity of its architectural lines. The church’s current architectural arrangement has a portico on the side facing the road that is extended also on the north side with a series of arches supported by slender columns with Ionic capitals. Under the portico are some coats-of-arms of noble families who, like the Gangalandi, were patrons of some of the altars. Currently, the exterior is devoid of fresco decorations, but as was common in the th and th centuries, there was a fresco depicting Saint Christopher Carrying the Christ Child on his Shoulders. The image of this saint was common in early medieval churches as a symbol and reminder to the faithful who attended sacred functions. Saint Christopher, in fact, represents someone who, under the weight of the Child, begins the search for the true knowledge of God. He also represents, in the symbolic act of fording a river, one who has been english version