Among the frescos by Giotto (1276-1336) which still exist in Florence, perhaps the finest are those in the Bardi Chapel, in the Church of Santa Croce, where so many of the illustrious Florentines are laid at rest.
“ ... here repose
Angelo’s, Alfieri’s bones, and his,
The starry Galileo, with his woes;
Here Machiavelli’s earth returned to whence it rose.”
The three small frescos on the walls of the cloisters of the Church of Santa Maria Novella are of great interest to students, as they were painted by Giotto when his artistic powers were in full maturity, and are among the best examples of the master.
On the walls and ceiling of the Bardi Chapel, Giotto has painted a series of frescos illustrating scenes in the life and death of St. Francis of Assisi. On the right wall, beginning from the top, is the “Confirmation of the Rules of his Order by the Pope”; “St. Francis before the Sultan”; “Challenging the Magi to the Ordeal of Fire”; “St. Francis blessing Assisi”; and, his appearing to the Bishop of Assisi. On the left wall are the paintings, “St. Francis flees from his Father’s House,” and, his Death, where he is surrounded by his sorrowing confraternity. The latter fresco is the lowest one on the left, and is one of Giotto’s best compositions, though it is not much more than a coloured outline, and has been much repainted. It is the only painting of the series in this chapel which has been noticed by Vasari in his life of Giotto. The figures in this fresco are painted almost in grisaille, with the exception of the cloak of the kneeling figure of the podesta, which is a deep red. The sky, which has been repainted, is a dark blue, in the centre of which appears the figure of the saint in a halo, surrounded, or supported by four angels on clouds. The colouring of this portion is in beautiful golden tints, and is evidently the untouched work of Giotto’s hand. The background architecture is expressed in broken tints of a yellowish stone-colour. In spite of the repainting, the complete design and some of the original colouring and handling still remain. It is
Photo. Alinari.
Plate 12.—Death of St. Francis
Giotto, Bardi Chapel, Sta. Croce, Florence