San Francesco, Assisi - Lower Church


Chapel of San Pietro d'Alcantara  (Saint Peter of Alcantara)

 
   The chapel of the confusing name. The first reference is in 1493 when it was known as the Cappella di Sant'Andrea; it belonged to the Aromatari family. In 1669 it was rededicated to San Pietro d'Alcantra (1499 – October 18, 1562) on his canonisation. The Franciscan Pietro lived a life of austerity; at one point he walked barefoot from Spain to Rome. 
  Confusingly, some references to the chapel on-line name it as the Cappella dell'Immacolata,  or the chapel of the Madonna of the Basilica d'Assisi. The image below might explain why.


  
    When the altars in the transepts were removed in the nineteenth century, this statue was taken from the Altare di Santa Maria Immacolata and placed in this chapel – the chapel of the statue of the Madonna.
  The main interest in the chapel is the 22 bronze panels showing the life of Christ by the twentieth century sculptor Tommaso Gismondi.




 

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