The Social and Artistic Context of the Baptistery of Siena (Ph.D. Rutgers the State University of New Jersey-New Brunswick, 2000, 337 pp.).

'... Ch.4 examines major events and personalities of the contemporary intellectual and spiritual milieu for possible influence on the frescoes' subject. I argue that Vecchietto's program emphasizes the textual source of the Apostles' Creed in response to an attack on its authenticity made by Lorenzo Valla. The broader implications of this position placed Siena in support of Pope Eugenius IV, and this issue is then considered within the context of Augustinian humanism then blossoming in Siena'.