GIOTTO di Bondone
(b. 1267, Vespignano, d. 1337, Firenze)

Franciscan Allegories: The Apotheosis of St Francis

c. 1320
Fresco
Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi

Worked through with gold, the triumphal procession of St Francis comes into view. He is enthroned in the centre of the triangular surface and drawn towards heaven by angels. His figure and in particular his face seem to belong to another world. The golden rays that emanate from him heighten the effect of the gold-embroidered dalmatic. The halos and the shimmering hair of the angels sustain this festive vein. The diverse figures of the angels, their music and their dancing - in which they take one another by the hand - lend the representation its liveliness.