The Art Sleuth in Assisi

February 19, 2012, Sunday

Miles flown:  676 miles
Left:  8:25 pm from Rome, FCO
Arrived:  11:15 pm at Athens, ATH

Having been Rome a few times, I decided to take a day trip outside of Rome before flying to Athens.  It came down to Tivoli (Villa d'Este and Hadrian's Villa) or Assisi.  If I had picked my destination based on which Franz Liszt piece I enjoy better, Tivoli would have won.  But despite the logistical difficulties with visiting Assisi on a Sunday, I went there.

Cziffra plays Liszt's "Les jeux d'eau à la Villa d'Este", courtesy of YouTube

Sunday train connections for Assisi are especially tricky, as there are few direct trains between Rome and Assisi, and most require a change in Foligno.  Complicating my trip, line B of the Metro was not running, so I went to Termini to catch a train for Tiburtina, and then I transferred to a train for Assisi.  It look me a while to figure out that the left luggage office at Tiburtina didn't open until 7:30, about twenty minutes before my train for Assisi.

Then once I got to Assisi, I had to take a bus to go uphill.  I got off at the last stop and then wandered downhill towards San Francesco, the main purpose of my visit.  The views of the valley were stunning.  San Francesco comprises two churches, the Lower and the Upper Basilicas.  The Lower Basilica came first and is in the Romanesque style and was built in the 13th Century.

Views of the valley

San Francesco on top of the hill

San Francesco

The Upper Basilica houses a famous fresco cycle on the life of St. Francis.  Authorship, however, is uncertain.  Vasari attributed the cycle to Giotto, but the attribution has been deemed problematic and art historians have called this the "Assisi problem."  As early as the 19th century, doubt was cast on Giotto's authorship, and this continued into the 20th century starting with the German art historian Rintelen in 1912.  Alastair Smart has argued cogently in his book published in 1971 that the Assisi St. Francis cycle is not by Giotto but by at least three artists / artist workshops.  This is supported by Bruno Zanardi, who has also argued that the Roman artist Pietro Cavallini was responsible for some of the most important frescoes.  However, a problem for Giotto naysayers is that Giotto's presence in Assisi was well documented, so presumably he should have painted something.

Cziffra plays Liszt's "St François d'Assise: la prédication aux oiseaux", courtesy of YouTube

A disastrous earthquake struck Assisi in 1997 and the frescoes were shattered and had to be painstakingly restored.  It was really wonderful to be able to see this art.  Perhaps even more miraculous are the Cimbaue frescoes in the Upper Basilica that have survived in a ruined state.  The frescoes have oxidized and look like photo negatives, but hints of the bold and magisterial compositions remain.

During the winter time, all the masses take place in the Lower Basilica, and there are four masses on Sundays, so I revisited the Lower Basilica a few times, in between the next-to-last and last masses and after the last mass.  Great art abounds in the Lower Basilica as well.  Simone Martini decorated one chapel, and Giotto and his workshop (or perhaps just his workshop) were responsible for a chapel and the right transept.  My favorite works are by Pietro Lorenzetti in the left transept and his Deposition in particular.

Lorenzetti Deposition, courtesy of f_snarfel @ flickr

A three-hour bus ride brought me back to Tiburtina around 5 pm.  I then took the train for the airport and flew to Athens on an 8:25 pm flight.

Airfare:  $117.36
Hotel:  $66.06