Umbria travel:
Franciscan Itinerary
La Verna - Assisi

Umbria Franciscan Itinerary La Verna - Assisi

La Verna and Montecasale (in Tuscany) have a great importance in the life of Saint Francis.

Photo © Roberto Romano

On the wall of the right-hand transept, Cimabue painted the group with the Madonna enthroned and Saint Francis , which is highly renowned since the figure of the Saint has always been considered to come closest to being a faithful portrait of the Poverello.
Of additional importance is the cycle of frescoes in the left-hand arm of the transept, representing the "stories of the Passion of Christ" painted by Pietro Lorenzetti (first decades of the 14th century). Intensely dramatic in impact is the Deposition of Jesus from the cross followed by Saint Francis receiving the stigmata and the Crucifixion. The painting by Lorenzetti The Madonna of the sunsets represents the Virgin with Christ in spiritual conversation with Saints John the Evangelist and Francis.
The lower Basilica contains several relics of the Saint, including the authentic text of the rule of the first Franciscan order and the Saint's precious habit. Stairs lead down to the crypt and the Saint's tomb (he was buried here on 25th May 1230). The Saint's followers were buried around his tomb in 1932.

Upper Basilica
The upper Basilica, with a Latin cross plan, consists of a single nave, with four spans and a pentagonal apse. The interior of the building, lit by large stained glass windows set into the walls of the nave, has a wealth of precious fresco cycles. Cimabue, in 1280, painted a fresco cycle in the apse area and in the transept. Nowadays, these works resemble photographic negatives as a result of chemical alterations which have taken place with the passing of time. Cimabue's Crucifixion is one such example. The nave contains frescoes by Giotto and other Roman and Tuscan masters telling the story of the life of the Poverello d'Assisi, inspired by the biography of Saint Francis written by St. Bonaventure

In the nave, beneath the Scenes of the New and Old Testament painted by Giacomo Torriti, Pietro Cavallini and other Roman and Tuscan artists, is the great fresco cycle of the life of Saint Francis by Giotto. It consists of 28 episodes.
The cycle starts on the right-hand wall, just before the transept and also covers the counterfacade and the whole of the left-hand wall. All the scenes are characterised by the three-dimensional representation of space, in which bodies and objects acquire an increased plastic impact. The young Giotto’s skilful use of color and his effortless drawing give the frescoes a sense of great realism, which would become a constant feature in all his later works.

A radical renewal of painting as an art form began with this cycle.

Church of San Damiano – (Assisi)
Franciscan sanctuary (1205 -1207), built where Saint Francis heard the voice of Christ and dictated the famous "Canticle of the Creatures" (composed later in 1225). Situated outside the ring of walls of the town of Assisi, it is thought to be one of the most authentic places of Franciscanism.
The small church was built in honour of the doctor Saint Damian between the 8th and 9th century. At the beginning of the 13th century the building was in ruins and it was Francis himself who wished to restore it. It was in this church that the painted Crucifix on a modelled panel spoke to the Saint saying to him:" Francis, repair my house, which is falling into ruins" (alluding to the crisis of the Church). The Sanctuary contains a fresco depicting Francis praying before the Byzantine Crucifix. Subsequently, Francis built a small convent next to the Sanctuary, which was to be the home of St. Clare and St. Agnes and the other Poor Clares, who stayed there until 1260 when the friars minor took over from them. The small porch leads down, to the right, into the area of the old buildings annexed to the church, nowadays the area of the Chapels. This is subdivided into: St. Jerome, Crucifix and sacristy.
The Chapel of St. Jerome contains frescos executed by Tiberio d'Assisi (1517):Virgin enthroned between Saints Francis, Clare, Bernardine and Jerome. On the back wall, on the left, is "St. Sebastian and St. Roch".

The Chapel of the Crucifix is so called because it houses a wooden Crucifix sculpted by Fra Innocenzo of Palermo in 1637. On one side of the Crucifix are two windows decorated by G. Ubaldi with scenes evoking the "Canticle of the Creatures". The church of S. Damiano has only one nave. Next to the door, on the right and above, you can see the window where Francis threw the money for the restoration of San Damiano. There are also several fragments of 14th-century paintings. The apse area contains a wooden choir of 1504. On the apse wall is a fresco of the Madonna and Child between Saints Ruphinus and Damian in the Byzantine style. Inside the church it is also worth noting a fresco by an anonymous painter depicting Mediaeval Assisi seen from S. Damiano. On the altar of the relics, inside an alabaster tabernacle, is the ivory box in which Saint Clare, by concession of the Pope, kept the Holy Sacrament.
A flight of steps gives easy access to the internal oratory of S. Maria di San Damiano (the "Porziuncola of St. Clare"), where the Saint lived when she was ill. The oratory is decorated with late 14th-century frescos. Adjacent to the oratory is a bare, unadorned room: the shared dormitory where Clare died on the evening of 11th August 1253.

Basilica di Santa Chiara - (Assisi)
The church replicates the form of the Upper Basilica of S. Francesco and was built in honour of the Saint’s female disciple. This Gothic building was begun in 1257, just three years after the death of St. Clare. The basilica stands partly on the ancient church of S. Giorgio, which until 1230 housed the body of St. Francis.
The interior, in the shape of a Latin cross, preserves beneath the high altar the body of St. Clare, which was placed there in 1230. The polychrome facade, consisting of strips of pink and white stone from Mount Subasio, characterises the building. Above the altar, in the webs of the cross vault, we find scenes of the Triumph of Christian virginity, executed by the so-called "Master of St. Clare" between 1230 and '35.
In the left-hand arm of the transept there is a painting depicting a crib, probably executed by an anonymous Umbrian artist, now identified as the "Master of the nativity of St. Clare" (he lived in around the mid-14th century). In the right-hand arm of the transept, behind the altar, is a large panel by Benvenuto Benveni, depicting Saint Clare.
On the upper part of the high altar are four frescos by Stefani, who also executed the magnificent compositions that can be seen beneath the windows in the monastic choir. Opposite these frescos is a small panel thought to be by Giottino and a small Triptych attributed to Cimabue or to his school.

The two panels of the Virgin Mary and St. Clare in the Chapel of S. Michele are attributed to Margaritone, but have been a good deal altered by inexpert retouching.
A staircase leads from the Basilica to the crypt (built towards the mid-19th century), where the mortal remains of St. Clare are kept, which were discovered on 23rd September 1850.
Adjacent to the basilica is the Chapel of the Sacrament, which occupies part of the ancient church of S. Giorgio and inside which is preserved the Crucifix originating from S. Damiano.

Basilica of S. Maria degli Angeli - (Assisi)
The patriarchal Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Porziuncola, a sixteenth-century "temple" (c.1569-1679), was built to receive pilgrims from all over the world. It contains within its walls the small church of the Porziuncola, a place of evangelical life and of the first Franciscan generation.
The Porziuncola represents the origin of Franciscanism and the source of God’s mercy. In fact a special indulgence was obtained for this small edifice, also known as the pardon of Assisi. In the center of this vast Renaissance building stands the Porziuncola, repaired in 1207 by Saint Francis. In this small building Franciscan humility is visible, in contrast to the rich decorations of the Basilica around it. It was in the Porziuncola, in 1211, that the clothing of St. Clare took place and thus the birth of the second Franciscan Order, also known as the Poor Clares.

The apse area of the Basilica contains the Chapel of the Transit, where Saint Francis, singing, welcomed death (3rd October 1226) and referring to the Porziuncola said: "Head, mother and mirror of all the churches in the order".
On the right of the Basilica are: the Rose garden (where the Saint, fighting temptation, threw himself among the thorns) and the Chapel of the Roses. This oratory was built above the hut where Saint Francis lived. It contains numerous frescos by Tiberio d'Assisi executed in 1506-1516, depicting stories relating to the pardon of Assisi. Inside the Basilica there is also an interesting high-relief depicting The Porziuncola at the time of St. Francis, executed by Fielder.
On the facade of the humble building of the Porziuncola is a large fresco executed in 1829 by the painter Federico Overbeck, (of the Nazarene school), representing St. Francis, at the feet of the Virgin with Christ, receiving the indulgence. The Latin phrase above the portal indicates that this holy place is worthy of veneration and symbolizes the “door of eternal life". Inside the Porziuncola, on the vault and in the presbytery, are several frescos dating back to the 14th and 15th century. The panel, of 1393, represents the Annunciation and the use of luminous colors gives rise to a vivid sensation of splendor.

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Courtesy of Umbria 2000

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