Frescoes in the Church of San Francesco, Assisi: Frescoes in the Lower Church: Frescoes in the Magdalen Chapel of the Lower Church

The Magdalen Chapel of the Lower Church is a lateral chapel in the corner between the northern transept and the nave. Its fresco decoration takes different forms: medallions with half-length figures, in the compartments of the vault, standing saints in the inside face of the entrance, narrative scenes on the walls and on the lunettes, and two portraits of donors on the end walls.

The authenticity and the dating of the frescoes in the Magdalen Chapel of the Lower Church of San Francesco is debated. It is generally agreed that they were executed with a contribution of Giotto but his role was probably that of planner rather than painter. There emerges the personality of one, or perhaps two of his assistants - the so-called Parente di Giotto and the Master of the Vele - who translated his ideas in their own style.