Frescoes in the Upper Church of San Francesco at Assisi

Most of the frescoes in the transept of the upper church of San Francesco, as well as in the apse, were executed all at once by Cimabue and his workshop. Cimabue, who came from Florence, is the first of the mural painters active in Assisi who can be identified by name. The subject matter of the extensive pictorial program that was executed under Cimabue's direction in the transept and the apse is based for the most part on the dedications of the altars in the western section of the church. A thirteenth-century inscription indicates that the altar in the south transept was dedicated to the archangel Michael; the high altar, to the birth of the Virgin; and the altar in the north transept, to the apostles or to Peter and Paul. Accordingly, the apse had scenes from the life of the Virgin, culminating in the Assumption; the south transept had motifs from the Apocalypse and a large Crucifixion on the east wall; the north transept arm had scenes from the lives of the apostles and another large Crucifixion; and the crossing vault had the evangelists.

Reproductions of the frescoes in the Upper Church are listed in the Web Gallery of Art in sections of Cimabue, Giotto, Jacopo Torriti, Master of Saint Cecilia, Master of the Isaac Stories, and Unknown Italian Masters.