Giotto's frescoes in the Upper Church - Assisi

Description of the frescoes of the Upper Church of Saint Francis in Assisi for our Spanish friends of the Comenius Project 2010-2012

Transcript

1. Giotto's frescos in the Upper Church 1. A man honours St. Francis putting a cloth at his feet as a sign of respect. 2. Outside Assisi, Francis takes off his cloak and gives it to a poor man to protect him from the cold. 3.God comes to Francis in a dream and points to a “Palace full of arms” symbolizing the spiritual arms the Saint must use to defend the Church. 4. Francis stops in the little church of S. Damiano and prays in front of the Crucifix and hears a voice that tells him “Go and repair my church”. 5. Francis renounces all his possessions in front of the Bishop of Assisi. 6. In his sleep, the Pope has a vision of a man holding up the Lateran Church that is falling. The man is Francis. 7. Innocent III receives Francis and his friars. The Pope approves the Order. 8. The friars see Francis in a Chariot of fire drawn by horses.
2. 9. An angel points out to a friar the throne on which Francis will sit. 10.While Francis in praying, Silvestro chases the devils from the city of Arezzo. 11.Francis at the court of the Sultan of Egypt. 12.Francis is raised towards God on a cloud. 13. The Crib in Greccio (the origin of the tradition of making cribs and nativities comes from this episode). 14. A man is thirsty, Francis points to a stone and water comes out. 15. Francis stops under a tree to preach to the birds that remain still and listen to him. 16. Invited for dinner by a knight, Francis foretells his host's death in time for him to confess his sins and die in peace.
3. 17. Francis speaks in front of Pope Honorius III. 18. Francis appears before some monks in Arles, France. 19. Francis receives the stigmata on the Mount Verna. 20. Francis dies and angels welcome him to heaven. 21. Friar Agostino cries Francis' death; the Bishop of Assisi has a vision of the Saint's death. 22. A knight wants to examine Francis' body to see the stigmata. 23. Clare's final farewell to Francis. 24. 16th July 1228 Pope Gregory IX canonized Francis.
4. 25.The Saint appear in a dream to the Pope and shows him his wounded rib. 26. A man devoted to Francis is dying after being attacked. Francis heals him. 27. Francis raises a daed woman to life. 28. A man unjustly imprisoned prays to Francis and suddenly the doors of his cell open.