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Click to view high resolution image Title: Sassetti Chapel with decorative cycle of the Life of Saint Francis and tombs of Francesco Sassetti and Nera Corsi Creator: Ghirlandaio, Domenico, painter Description: Francis of Assisi was the founder of the Franciscan Order, a religious order that pioneered a mendicant form of religious life. St. Francis was the patron saint of Francisco Sassetti, who commissioned the decorations for the Sassetti Chapel in Santa Trinita, Florence, Italy. The confirmation ceremony of the order of St. Francis by Pope Honorius III is depicted in a lunette at the top of the altar wall that faces the entrance to the chapel. The backdrop to the confirmation scene is Florence - the Piazza della Signoria, Pallazo Vecchio, and Loggia dei Lanzi are all visible – instead of Rome, where the event historically took place. In the right hand corner of this fresco are portraits of Antonio Pucci, Lorenzo di Medici, Francisco Sassetti, and Frederico Sassetti. At the bottom of the fresco, the three sons of Lorenzo di Medici are being led up stairs to their father by a man who possesses the tonsure and is wearing clerical garb. St. Francis’s miraculous resurrection of a notary’s son who had fallen out of a palace window is depicted underneath the confirmation scene. The child sits up from his death bed as St. Francis blesses him from a mandorla at the top of the painting. It is possible to distinguish the Santa Trinita cathedral in the background of the resurrection fresco. Underneath the resurrection scene is a central panel showing the Nativity and Adoration of the Shepherds. Framing the Nativity panel are images of Francisco Sassetti (right) and his wife, Nera Corsi, (left) who are both kneeling and holding their hands in prayer. Source: Wikimedia Commons Rights: Public domain Subject (See Also): Francis of Assisi, Saint Geographic Area: Italy Century: 15 Date: 1479-1485 Related Work: Current Location: Sassetti Chapel, Santa Trinita, Florence Original Location: Sassetti Chapel, Santa Trinita, Florence Artistic Type (Category): Digital Images; Paintings Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Frescoes Donor: Layman; Francisco Sassetti, a wealthy man who was a partner in Medici banks in Avignon and Lyon Height/Width/Length(cm): // Inscription: Related Resources: E. H. Gombrich, The Sassetti Chapel Revisited: Santa Trinita and Lorenzo de' Medici, I Tatti Studies: Essays in the Renaissance, Vol. 7 (1997), pp. 11-35

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