Resumen de Familial values and Franciscan polemics in late trecento Florence: the iconographic program of the Castellani Chapel in Sta. Croce
Constructed in the late trecento with a bequest from the Florentine merchant Michele di Vanni di ser Lotto Castellani (first half of the 14th century—1383), the Castellani Chapel in Sta. Croce, Florence, was decorated by the Florentine artist Agnolo Gaddi and members of his workshop, sometime in the mid-1380s to the early 1390s, with scenes from the lives of SS. Nicholas, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, and Anthony Abbot. Scholars have written about the frescoes in general terms; however, there has been no comprehensive analysis of the chapel's decorative program. An overview of the history of the Castellani family and the chapel sets the stage for an examination of the subject matter of the individual frescoes and the iconography of the decoration as a whole. The article suggests that the program of the Castellani Chapel was the product of a fruitful collaboration between the secular patrons, the artist, and the convent of Sta. Croce and emphasized Franciscan beliefs about charity, religious poverty, and the mission of the Friars Minor, as well as exemplifying familial and societal values of late trecento Florence.
