Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

The first part of this lecture will examine the great Dominican church and convent of Santa Maria Novella. From the 13th-century Gothic-style architecture of its interior, to its early Renaissance façade, the great basilica reflects the changing artistic, religious, and social trends of the late medieval world. We shall also examine the largest Franciscan church in the world, the Basilica of Santa Croce. Celebrated as Florence’s most Gothic of churches, Santa Croce was the product of a perfect historical storm of patronage, dedication, and location that resulted in a church rivaled locally only by the great cathedral of Florence.