Saint Francis Basilica

Giotto introduced perspective. The 27 frescos inside the upper St. Francis Basilica done by Giotto are deeply moving.

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Saint Francis Basilica is on two levels along with a basement level where we attended mass. The second level was built on top of the first, because they needed more room for the 1000s of visiting pilgrims. The first level is the traditional arm plus transcepts arrangement with shrines along the sides, each approached by three to five marble steps, each elaborately decorated in frescos, each with intricate stained glass. In one such shrine, the frescos were by Giotto, dated 1309 and stained glass dated 1300. The floor was made of large slabs of red stone, worn smooth by 700 years or so, of pilgrims. There isn't time to do more than glance about, if we were to attend mass,which we did. Then we went upstairs to the upper basilica where the Giottos were. I had taught Giotto, and was primed to look at his paintings. Of course, I had forgotten that they were all scenes from St Francis' life, not Christs' until I caught on. So we kept asking ourselves, "Where is that in the Bible?" I had also forgotten that two scenes in the aspse and one transcept were by Cimebua, even earlier that Giotto, so I didn't see those and missed seeing first-hand the very earliest glimmerings of 3-dimensional modeling, done in 1285, only 10 years or so before Giotto began his work there. Giotto actually studied under Cimebue and did the series of 27 frescos in this basilica between 1297 and 1299. Each is about four feet by 6 feet which computes to one fresco a month. We felt rushed and not able to do justice to the Giottos since we were scheduled to return to the bus and continue the tour towards Florance that day. We emerged from the upper basilica onto the small plaza overlooking Assisi. The town is nestled in a flat valley below, which was covered with a grey haze, tinged with a pollution-brown. Lovely.