Nirit Ben-Aryeh Debby

Franciscan propaganda is the focus of this paper, which examines a variety of visual images used by the Observant branch of the Order to advocate ideals connected with Crusade ideology. A special emphasis is placed on a comparative perspective when examining the visual features of the church of Ognissanti in comparison with the earlier Franciscan house of Santa Croce in Florence. A major issue discussed is how traditional values advocated by the early Franciscans found new form and were given diverse emphasis by the reformed branch of the order in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.