_Left Transept._--To Pietro Lorenzetti was given the work of
decorating these walls with scenes from the Passion, and so far as
completing the rich colour of the church be succeeded. But when
studied as separate compositions they betray the weakness of an artist
who, as Mr. Berenson remarks, "carries Duccio's themes to the utmost
pitch of frantic feeling." Great prominence is given to the subject
of the crucifixion where the vehement actions of the figures rather
than the nobility of the types are pre-eminent. It may be of interest
to some that the man on the white horse is said to be Gualtieri, Duke
of Athens, the tyrant of Florence, whose arms Vasari says he
discovered in the fresco which he describes as the work of Pietro
Cavallini.
A curious composition is that on the opposite wall where the disciples
sit in awkward attitudes and the servants in the kitchen are seen
cleaning the dishes while a dog hastily licks up the scraps. It would
be difficult to know this represented a religious scene were it not
for the large aureoles of the apostles. Nor has Pietro succeeded in
giving solemnity to the scene of the Stigmata, where the strained
position of St. Francis and the agitated movement of the Seraph
partake of the general characteristics of these frescoes. But in his
Madonna, St. Francis and St. John the Evangelist, below the
crucifixion, Pietro Lorenzetti gives his very best and their faces we
remember together with the saints of Simone Martini. Referring to this
fresco M. Berenson says: "At Assisi, in a fresco by Pietro, of such
relief and such enamel as to seem contrived of ivory and gold rather
than painted, the Madonna holds back heart-broken tears as she looks
fixedly at her child, who, Babe though he is, addresses her earnestly;
but she remains unconsoled."[86]
_Chapel of S. Giovanni Battista._[87]--Another lovely work by Pietro
Lorenzetti is the triptych over the altar, the Madonna, St. Francis
and St. John the Baptist, but here the action of the child leaning
towards the Virgin and holding the end of her veil, is more caressing
and suggestive of babyhood. Above are small heads of angels like those
Pietro places in medallions round the frescoes in the south transept.
This, and the panel picture over the altar in the opposite chapel,
complete the works of the Sienese school in Assisi. The Umbrian school
is represented by a large and unsympathetic picture by Lo Spagna
(dated 1526), which is however considered by local admirers of the
painter to be his masterpiece. It is a relief to turn from his
yellow-eyed saints and hard colouring to the windows of this chapel
which are remarkable for their harmony and depth of tone.[88] The
figures of the central window date from the second half of the
thirteenth century, those of the left window are at least two
centuries later.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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