Assisi - An Illustrated Guide-book PDF
Preview Assisi - An Illustrated Guide-book
ASSIST Sandro Chierichetti AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE BOOK WITH PLANS OF THE MONUMENTS Colour plate on cover: Giotto: A simple man renders ho- mage to the young Francis in the square of Assisi, by spreading a cloak at his feet (Assisi, Basilica of San Francesco, Upper Church). Photography: Rotalfoto - Milan; Alinari - Florence; Bromofoto - Milan. This work has been legally deposited with office of literary, artistic and scientific properly, in Rome. All rights reserved to the Industrie Grafiche Nicola Moneta S.p.A. Milan, Via Marco Aurelio 6. Edition produced exclusively for the D.A.C.A. Firm. Via Madonna deH'Olivo - Assisi SANDRO CHIERICHETTI ASSISI AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE-BOOK WITH PLAN SHOWING THE POSITION OF THE MONUMENTS 1957 INDUSTRIE GRAFICHE N. MONEXA S.P.A. VIA MARCO AURELIO, 6 MILAN m lit ml^Pm-f\^it^fl^rL ^ s s s t t Assist awaits us, reclining softly on the slopes of Mt. Su- basio. Around her, the gentle « singing » landscape of Um- bria, the plain of Spoleto and the rounded hills. Only in one point does it become for a moment austere, where the wild Tescio torrent gashes through the hillside above the little city. Assisi TTiight appear but little different from other lovely cities of central Italy, so picturesquely arranged on their terraced hills and so rich in monuments that bear witness to a full history. But in one thing she is scenically quite distinct from them - something special and all her own. First of all, there is the Monastery. None of us could imagine the city without placing it, in fancy, at her feet; a mighty, traceried rampart that seems to support the en- tire Basilica on its shoulders. So m,ighty, indeed, that, seen in the distance, from the Central Umbrian State Road,—it makes us think of some incredible geological—formation live rock pressed against the mountain side where the whim of Nature has been miraculously replaced by an orde- red harmony of round-headed arches. Up abo—ve, almost like a variation on t—he theme of the Monastery but in a more austere tone is the Rocca Maggiore {the great Fortress). If the architectural form of the Monastery is unique there is another thing about it, which, though common to the city as a whole, distinguishes this place from all the others: the stone of Mount Subasio. This stone, ivith its warm, mellow, often soft pink tones, gives Assisi her unmistakable colour note and creates her « atmosphere », beyond the strictly vi- sual sense of the term. To it we owe the gracefulness of even the humblest dwellings, the pleasing grandeur of the patrician homes and the sweet mystical forms of the Churches. So here we are in Assisi, all built in this sensitive stone. Let us take a look at her houses. However humble they may be, there is always a touch of fantasy about them, some lightly - traced windoiv, or a depressed arch over a doorway or the arabesque of a wrought-iron lampholder; or simply a bright cluster of flowers. Soine of these ancient dwellings have two doors, one of them higher and narrower than the other and walled up, known traditionally as the « deadmans door ». In fact it is said that they were opened only to let corpses pass through and than walled up again. Others tell us, more convincingly, that they were the house-doors, which, being less accessible, were safer at night-time than the door to the shop or the store-room. Let us halt for a moment in her streets which cut deep pa- rallel furrows across the hillside and are linked up by narrow winding lanes and charming flights of stone steps (known as the « rope-ways ») forming delightfully picturesque little cross-roads. And stop here and there to contemplate the unexpected views which open up between the houses, stret- ching far away to the faint horizon of the plain of Spoleto. Let us take a look at the ancient ruins, remains of the Ro- man epoch, when Assisi passed through prosperous years. But above all we shall dwell lovingly on her Churches, both the wonderful, monumental Basilicas and the smaller ones, wedged in between the houses as if languishing on the outskirts of the town, a memory of one-time piety where the humble folk still pray with fervid conviction. For Assisi is, indeed, a joy to the eye, but she harbours a spiritual beauty infinitely higher and greater than the purely visible - St. Francis. We use the word beauty by no means thoughtlessly; for there is a point where religion and moral values become inseparable from aesthetic values in our expe- rience. Through a connection of antique date, whxit is spiri- tually beautiful is beautiful to the sense too. It is no « rheto- rical pose about poverty » which makes us pause before so many examples of pure Franciscan humility, from which all stylistic calculation has been banished, in which not even the most ingenuous decoration has been added to the es- sential structural skeleton, before so much unadorned simpli- — — 6 city, and exclaim: « how lovely! » Here again we are moved not only spiritually, but by a sincerely aesthetic emotion too. But, from this point of view, what part of Assisi is not lovely? Everything here speaks of St. Francis; not only houses, chapels and churches, but the very air seems to vi- brate still with the sound of his voice. And who does not come to Assisi for a spiritual meeting with him? And who after having visited the city, all his own, does not in his secret heart, make an unprejudiced examination of himself, beyond the bounds of all hypocrisy? So that the invisible inhabitants of Assisi are always far more numerous than those we see. Shall we too elect this as our spiritual home? Then Assisi would give us her most wonderful gift. Simone Martini St. Francis (Basilica of San Francesco : Lower Church) — — 7 ^ St. Francis The short Hfe of the Saint, whpse spiritual and moral greatness is honoured by men ot all races and religions, is placed at the height of the epoch of the Communes (1182- 1226). The deepest meaning of this life lies in the suffering and heroic domination of the will, illuminated by faith, over instinctive egotism and the senses. A domination which the Saint was to conquer by degrees, through an iron self-con- trol, after a period of spiritual bewilderment and short mili- tary experiences (1182-1205) and of spiritual searching gui- ded by divine counsel (1205-1209). The first of the latter can be taken as the dream he had in Spoleto (1205), through which he realized that he was to become a soldier of God; the second, the exhortation of the Crucifix in the church of San Damiano (St. Damian; 1206) to bring back the word of Christ among men; and, third and last, the reading of the New Testament in the church of San Nicolo (St. Nicho- las), which was to persuade the Saint to begin, together with Bernardo di Quintavalle, a life of absolute poverty, de- dicated to God. The hovel of Rivotorto harboured the two new apostles and their companions in the faith. And at Ri- votorto St. Francis was to write the Rule of the new-born Order; that of the Frati Minori (Minor Friars; First Order, 1209). Then began the third period in the life of the Saint, that of his heroic apostulate (1209-1226). This St. Francis reached only after giving up his contacts with society (it was only later that he was recognized as being inspired by God) and with his own father, before whom he had renounced all earthly goods (1207). The Rule written at Rivotorto (based on vows of poverty, obedience and chastity) recieved the spoken approval of Pope Innocenzo 111. This approval was solemnly confirmed only in 1223, by Onorius III, who had recognized (1221) the lay Third Order first. In 1211 Francis and his companions left Rivotorto to establish themselves in the Porziuncola oratory, set in a wood at the foot of the hill of Assisi. This oratory constituted the material and spi- ritual cradle of the early Franciscan movement. Here the Second Order, that of the Poor Clares, was founded (1212); here St. Francis and his companions met before and after their dangerous missions in distant lands (from 1214 on- ^ — 8
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