Giotto, painter in Santa Croce and merchant in Florence

The complexity of the man reflects the complexity of the period of history he lived through, and his life and career serve as the narrative thread to recount the birth of Santa Croce, the relationship between St. Francis’s message and the site’s wealthy patrons and the story of the Friars Minor and of Florence. Giotto’s reputation was so great that it prompted a rethink of the artist’s role, from mere artisan working with his hands to creator of beauty whose work is a cultural event in its own right.