Art History Professor and Italian Renaissance Expert
“Brunelleschi’s Basilica: The Building of Santo Spirito in Florence”

Brunelleschi’s Basilica of Santo Spirito in Florence, Italy, is one of the defining architectural works of the Renaissance. The building of this great church was a perfect historical storm – a celebrity architect, who was bordering on apotheosis as he neared the completion of the dome of Florence cathedral; a district of well-known, wealthy and competitive patrons hoping to assert themselves and their families through chapel patronage within the church; an uncertain architectural inheritance left by Brunelleschi upon his death; strong-minded and hard-willed successors of the architect at the worksite; and citywide factionalism championing and repudiating Brunelleschi’s alleged design intentions for the church. In this lecture, Dr. Rocky will untangle this web of artistic and historical factors that contributed to shaping Santo Spirito based on the findings of his recent book “Brunelleschi’s Basilica: The Building of Santo Spirito in Florence.”