"The church of Santa Maria dei Laici in Gubbio, also known as the “Church of the Bianchi”, is located between Piazza dei Quaranta Martiri and Via Piccardi, in front of the Basilica of San Francesco, and can be accessed both from the street and from under the Logge.
The name of the church derives from the ancient Confraternity of the Laymen or Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary founded way back in 1313.
In 1315 the Confraternity obtained from the city council a house and some land (the house is the current part of the complex to the east, beyond the border of the portico) lower, facing onto Via della Repubblica, the land was the space, not built at the time, between said house and the “new bridge” which today leads to Via Piccardi.
On this land they built the church in 1325 and a few years later they erected the hospital for which the community of Gubbio donated the stone.
In 1377 the authorities of the Confraternity of the Laity asked the city of Gubbio to grant permission to extend the existing colonnade by two or three more columns.
In the period 1400/1500 the Church was an integral part of the hospital; when the latter was transferred to another part of the city it remained independent from the hospital complex which was sold to the Wool Corporation, which, at the beginning of the 17th century, built the “Covered Loggia” above it to house 40 “wool pullers” and created 7 shops there.
The Confraternity of the Whites has always had an essential importance for the life of the city, for the notable number of members of the Society (over three thousand) and for the particular dedication to the care of the sick in the Hospital of Santa Maria della Misericordia, the largest in the city, to which, with the Papal Bull of Julius II on 9 August 1505, the other hospitals of the city were united, creating a new entity, the “Spedal Grande”.
The Bell Tower of the Church was built in 1467.
Today the church is used as a multipurpose hall annexed to the Diocesan Museum.
The structure is organized on two levels: on the first a frescoed underground chapel, on the second the area for worship."

Edoardo Mariotti

"A little gem in the center of Gubbio. The woman who welcomed us was very helpful and kind. We were captivated by the building and the works inside, such as the "sepolcro" (oratory), which once housed a cycle of frescoes from the Nellian school depicting the Passion of Christ. The scenes depicting the Flagellation and the Nailing to the Cross are still preserved there. Inside, you can currently admire a video showing a virtual reconstruction of the frescoes' layout, created by the University of Florence."

arianna pantaleo

"August 2020.
A small church inside a loggia. We hadn't even seen the entrance but we were struck by the exhibition on a young Raphael in his workshop.
The church inside houses beautiful and highly valuable works. Well preserved. Today it is used as a multipurpose room of the Diocesan Museum.
Along the walls of the church runs a cycle composed of 24 panels and created around 1607 by Felice Damiani with the theme of the "Life of the Virgin".
The Annunciation by Federico Barocci, on the left wall, is interesting.
The exhibition that was hosted was dedicated to a Gonfalone del Corpus Domini by a young Raphael. A painting on two sides. Truly magnificent."

Sonia Padoan