Frescoes in the Upper Church

The small number of documents preserved means that it is still unclear whether or not the architectural construction with an upper church and a lower church was already planned at the start of construction after the canonization of Francis in 1228. While the lower church is regarded as a sepulchre and memorial church for St. Francis, the upper church is seen as the official main church because it contains the stone papal cathedra in the polygonal apse. With its gothic cross-vaults over a Latin crucifix, the building is occidental as a result of its geographic location. The vaults of the second and fourth bays are decorated with a starry sky, whereas the vault in the first bay portrays the four Doctors of the Church and the vault in the third bay portrays a large deesis with St. Francis. The cross vault shows the evangelists. The transept walls contain portrayals of the apostles, the life of Mary, and the apocalypse, as well as frescoes of the crucifixion of Christ, which are thought to have been painted from 1272 onwards. The fresco cycle on the lower part of the walls of the single nave, which were started after 1253, portrays the life of St. Francis. Associated with this cycle are the two upper registers with their scenes from the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Basilica di San Francesco in Assisi, one of the oldest gothic churches in Italy, painting and architecture form a remarkable entity, which is without comparison in its art-historical importance.