#113 Ghirlandaio’s Frescos in Santa Trinità: A Conversation with Prof. William R. Cook

Saturday, December 13th Live on Zoom

6pm London, 7pm Florence, 10am Los Angeles, 1pm New York

The pièce de résistance of the artworks in the Santa Trinità church in Florence is without doubt one of the finest and most complete remaining Renaissance chapels – the Capella Sassetti, and those frescoes (1486) are among Domenico Ghirlandaio's finest work. The episodes of the life of St. Francis are embellished by contemporary Florentine settings and personalities.  The altarpiece, a Ghirlandaio painting on canvas, is of the birth of Christ and would be admired in any museum in the world. But even that painting is about Florence, Jerusalem, and the Sassetti family as well as about Jesus. Bill Cook, a scholar and expert on Saint Francis and Medieval and Renaissance history, will offer an insightful talk on these extraordinary frescoes – a lovely way to end this season before the holidays.

Dr. Cook earned his B.A. from Wabash College. Shortly thereafter he received the Woodrow Wilson and the Herbert Lehman fellowships to study Medieval History at Cornell University where he completed his M.A. and Ph.D. He is a lecturer for The Great Courses and was Distinguished Teaching Professor of History at the State University of New York at Geneseo since 1970 until he retired with the rank of Distinguished Teaching Professor in 2012. His publications include Images of St. Francis of Assisi and Francis of Assisi: The Way of Poverty and Humility.  He also currently edits and contributes to The Art of the Franciscan Order in Italy. He has lectured widely in the USA and Europe and has taken countless students to Europe to study medieval and Renaissance history and art.  In retirement, he founded the Bill Cook Foundation, a nonprofit organization supporting schools and school programs in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

To RSVP: Paola50122@gmail.com

Minimum suggested donation: $28

This talk is free for Friends of Paola's Studiolo!

Look forward to seeing you on Zoom!