San Francesco, Assisi - Lower Church |
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The frescoes in this chapel are regarded as the earliest example of a narrative series about the Magdalene, dating from around 1309. The work is ascribed to Giotto and assistants, and this is quite convincing as there are many similarities with the frescoes in the Scrovegni chapel in Padua. The work was commissioned by the Franciscan Teobaldo Pontano da Todi, bishop of Assisi, and here he is, looking suitably humble at the feet of Mary Magdalene. | |
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A selection of the frescoes. |
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An aside: who was Zosimus?
Zosimus, or Zozimus, was a third
century Egyptian hermit, so an encounter with the first century Mary
Magdalene is somewhat unlikely. Two different legends have been conflated
here; Mary Magdalene is the wrong Mary. |
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Between the transept and the chapel. If you look closely at the plan of the lower church chapels you will see a small space between the North transept and the chapel of the Magdalene. This is not shown as a chapel, and perhaps never has been. Currently it contains an artwork, 'Sudario' (shroud) by Enzo Scatragli, a contemporary artist from Arezzo. |
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