Assisi, St. Francis' sail is in critical condition: it needs restoration and everyone's help

The Foundation for the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi is asking for everyone’s help in restoring an important fresco in the Lower Basilica of Assisi: it is the sail depicting St. Francis in Glory, a work by Giotto and other Giottesque painters from around 1334, which needs an intervention to be financed with the sum of 27,250 euros. To raise it, the Foundation has launched a crowdfunding campaign on the LoveItaly portal. The campaign, titled Together for St. Francis, will run until mid-March.

The frescoes of the vault of the Lower Basilica, the foundation says, are in a critical state, and for this reason conservation work is urgently needed, especially on the sail with the saint in glory, characterized by full-bodied use of gold, which testifies to the maximum sumptuousness achieved in the decoration of the Basilica, in an obvious revisionist spirit with respect to the pauperism preached by St. Francis himself. The paintings of the sails of the presbytery are subject to degradation, caused by various factors, from seismic (given the site’s own vulnerability) to microclimatic ones, due to the full-bodied and constant presence of visitors. The last restoration dates back fifty years now, and currently sedimentation, detachment and micro-lifting of the pictorial film are evident and widespread, as well as lesions along the entire surface. In the coming months, therefore, conservation work is planned on the entire cross vault above the high altar of the Basilica’s Lower Church.

The sail with St. Francis in glory

The intervention involves restoring the stability and adhesion of the paint film to the plaster and of the plaster itself to the underlying structure. The old fillings (which date back to previous restoration work) will be consolidated or removed and replaced with new ones made with suitable mortars compatible with the pre-existing materials, while the lifts in the pictorial film will be fixed by infiltration of acrylic emulsions, and dry cleaning using sponges will be carried out afterwards to remove lightly fixed dust, white saline dust and cobwebs.

Currently, 9% of the total amount has been collected. Everyone can donate as much as they wish (just go to the appropriate page on the LoveItaly website), and they will receive a prize in return: with a donation of at least 10 euros you are entitled to a digital parchment certificate, with 25 you will also be entitled to name and recognition on the website of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi and on the “Angels” page of the LoveItaly website, with 100 euros also a recognition in the ebook of the conservation intervention, with 500 euros name and recognition on the final video and an invitation to participate in activities and exclusive LoveItaly events, with 1000 the name on the web page of the exhibition at the end of the restoration on the Omeka platform and an exclusive visit to the basilica and the Sacro Convento guided by a friar, with 2000 euro an exclusive visit to the Giotto cycles of the basilica guided by the chief restorer of Assisi, a visit to the site of the intervention guided by the director of works, and the celebration of a mass in the basilica according to the donor’s intentions, and finally with 5000 euro also an exclusive visit to the Library of the Sacro Convento and the Museum of the Treasure guided by a friar.

“We friars of the Sacred Convent,” says Father Marco Moroni, custodian of the Sacred Convent of St. Francis of Assisi, “have a very great privilege, that of guarding the Basilica where the mortal remains of St. Francis of Assisi rest. Many artists were called here to honor St. Francis with their skillful work. Thus this Basilica and convent, embellished by the work of architects, builders, sculptors, painters, are today a unique jewel in the world. Now it is our turn to preserve works of art by such masters as Cimabue, Giotto, Pietro Lorenzetti, Simone Martini. We also guard them on your behalf and on behalf of the millions of visitors who come here every year, so that future generations can still enjoy all this beauty, a testimony to art and faith. We can do this with everyone’s help.”

Assisi, St. Francis' sail is in critical condition: it needs restoration and everyone's help

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