Above the arch facing the altar is a very charming fresco of the
Magdalen standing at the entrance of a cave, her hair falling like a
mantle of cloth of gold about her, to receive the gift of a garment
from a charitable hermit who had heard of her life of austerity and
privation among the mountains of Provence.
The single figures of St. Clare, St. Mary Magdalen and St. Rufino, as
well as the saints in the vaulting opposite the altar, no longer
follow Giotto's designs and are far inferior to the other frescoes.
Teobaldo Pontano, Bishop of Assisi between 1314 and 1329, is supposed
to be the kneeling figure at the feet of St. Rufino as donor of the
chapel. It is so unlikely Giotto should have repeated his later Paduan
designs in a feebler manner, as seen here, or that a pupil should
have slavishly copied them, that it seems more probable the chapel
dates from the time of St. Bonaventure, when its decoration may have
been begun by Giotto and completed by some later Florentine follower
called in by the bishop who desired to be buried here. The Pontano
arms decorate the beautiful stained glass windows, which certainly
date from the first half of the fourteenth century, and are the finest
in the Lower Church with the exception of those in St. Martin's
chapel. Each figure has a claim on our admiration, but especially
lovely is the figure of the Magdalen whose hair falls to her feet in
heavy waves of deepest gold. In the last division of the right window
is the death of the saint, with the lions at her feet which are
supposed to have dug her grave.
_The Chapel of St. Antonio di Padova._--Built by the Assisan family of
Lelli in the fourteenth century, it was once ornamented by Florentine
frescoes of the same date which were destroyed when the roof fell in,
and it has now nothing of interest save the windows. These contain
some naïve scenes from the life of St. Anthony; among them may be
noticed his preaching to the fish which raise their heads above the
water to listen.
_Chapel of San Stefano._--This like the last, has only very decadent
frescoes by Adone Doni and is solely interesting for its windows
(second half of fourteenth century), where below the symbols of the
Evangelists are single figures of saints, among them King Louis and
the royal Bishop of Toulouse. Cardinal Gentile di Montefiore, founder
of the chapel of S. Martino, was also the donor of this one and is
represented in the right window with his crest, a tree growing out of
a blue mound against an orange background.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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