Half of the bay window on the left, looking towards the altar, is the
work of the Umbrian school of the time of Fiorenzo di Lorenzo (there
is a Madonna in a blue mantle, and St. Onofrio clothed in
vine-leaves), while the left half, with medallions composed of very
small pieces of glass representing scenes from the early life of
Christ, are perhaps the most beautiful, and certainly the oldest, in
the church, and can even be compared to the stained glass of French
cathedrals. The third window (the second has suffered considerably,
and what is left of the original belongs to the fifteenth century) has
been a good deal restored, but the large angels with blue and purple
wings standing in an arch, behind which a little town is seen, are
very fine, and below them is a curious small figure of St. Francis
floating in front of a colossal Christ, belonging also to the
fifteenth century.
Very beautiful are the two saints beneath gothic arches in the last
window, and the priests in their rose-coloured stoles, the bishops in
crimson and gold, and the other figures of warriors and saints.
The right half of the bay window near the door upon the opposite
side, belonging also to the Umbrian school, contains some charming
scenes from the life of St. Anthony, while on the left are incidents
of the life of St. Francis. The whole is remarkable for delicate rose
colours, greens and pale blues, and a total absence of the strong deep
tones of the older and finer windows; but they are very beautiful of
their kind, like patches of pale sunshine in the church.
The next two windows betray a more ancient style in the fine figures
of the apostles (their heads, alas, are modern), and in the scenes
from their lives, which are of a deeper tone than the former one; but
even more beautiful is the last window, which does not seem to have
been restored within the last three centuries, and where the colours
standing out from a creamy background are very lovely. The two large
and grand figures of two apostles are believed by Herr Thode to be
from drawings by Cimabue.
Both Francesco di Terranuova and Valentino da Udine were employed to
repair all the windows about 1476, large sums being expended,
principally by the Popes who never ceased to patronise the franciscan
Basilica. A most comical appearance is given by the distressing
additions made in our own time of modern heads upon bodies of the
thirteenth or fourteenth century. Until very lately an exquisite rose
window was to be seen over the eastern door, now replaced by white
glass; one would like to know how it so mysteriously disappeared and
where it now is.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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