Assisi : The Frescoes in the Basilica of St. Francis
Editorial Reviews Amazon.com When an earthquake shook the town of Assisi on September 26, l997, it destroyed three sections of the vault in the 800-year-old Basilica of St. Francis. Although many of the contents were lost, such as the frescoes of St. Jerome and St. Matthew, this book preserves the whole interior, both in clear, sensitively-arranged color photographs and in an extensive text by the eloquent Angiola Romanini, the University of Rome art historian. The Basilica of St. Francis is a treasure trove of paintings by Simone Martini, Pietro Lorenzetti, Cimabue, Giotto, and others. The "birthplace of a new age in painting and in European art," the frescoes demonstrate the shift from the flattened, stylized figures of the Byzantine late Middle Ages to the three-dimensional, individualized pictures of men and women that signal the beginning of the Renaissance. Romanini's text is scholarly and complete, with footnotes in the accepted academic style, but her passion comes through in her prose. She describes Cimabue's frescoes as "a scene change that wipes the northern tradition off the stage, as though it were an irretrievably finished age."
The Basilica's sense of peace, much remarked on by visitors for centuries, was shattered by the fallen sections of its vault. But the church of the gentle saint, pictured with his congregation of attentive birds, is still largely intact. This is not a book for the casual tourist, but it may inspire a few art lovers to make it the centerpiece of their next pilgrimage to Italy. --Peggy Moorman
Book Description
During the eight hundred years since its founding, the Basilica of St. Francis has survived twenty-three recorded earthquakes. None, however, was as devastating as the most recent in September 1997. This important volume offers an incomparable opportunity to see the entire Basilica of St. Francis, including the frescoes of St. Jerome and St. Matthew, which were lost forever when they fell from the nave of the church.
The basilica is shown in all its glory. Precious close-up photographs of the frescoes are accompanied by general views of both the upper and lower church, showing the soaring Romanesque architecture, the intricately patterned painted ribs of the arches, the altar and wooden stalls, and the incredible stained glass windows. The frescoes of the Basilica of St. Francis are masterpieces of the very early Renaissance, still influenced by the distinctive perspective and flatness of the Gothic. The text relates the story of the painting of the church--the events depicted by the frescoes themselves, and the progress of work by painters under the tutelage of Cimabue and Giotto, some of whose hands are discernable in individual masterpieces, such as the fresco of Isaac.
The Basilica of St. Francis will be restored, but it will never again be as complete as before the tragedy of nature that claimed an important part of art history and Italian culture. Assisi is an important document of our cultural heritage.
Assisi : The Frescoes in the Basilica of St. Francis,Angiola Maria Romanini,Rizzoli,0847821110,15th-16th Century Art,Art,Art & Art Instruction,Assisi,European,Francis,,History - Renaissance,Italy,Mural painting and decoration,,Mural painting and decoration, Gothic,Mural painting and decoration, Italian,Mural painting and decoration, Renaissance,Specific Religious Buildings Architecture,Subjects & Themes - Religious,Techniques - General,Techniques - Painting,of Assisi, Saint,,Art / History / General,Art / Religious,Francis
Nice Books:
Recommended Books