Death of Saint Francis

Abstract

This scene of Saint Francis' death was sculpted by Dionigi Bussola (1615 - 1687) and his workshop between 1660 and 1665. It shows Francis lying on the floor before the altar of the Porziuncola, a small church outside Assisi, where he had had a miraculous vision of Christ and the Virgin Mary who promised a special indulgence for those who made a pilgrimage to the church (see Orta, Chapel 11). A handwritten guidebook to Orta's chapels preserved in the convent's archives records that Francis asked his followers to remove his habit to help him prepare for death, "so that the devil could not profit from this final moment to conquer him." Before he died, Francis meditated on scripture and blessed everyone in attendance. His humility and focus on God at the hour of his death were important elements of an "ideal death," or Ars morendi, an idea which was popularized by the Jesuits in the second half of the seventeenth century, when this chapel was built. This scene also includes figures of Giacoma de' Sette Soli and her two daughters at Francis' feet. Giacoma was a Roman noblewoman and devoted follower of Francis who was warned of his impending death by an angel. Together with the saint's pose, the presence of these mourning women recalls the composition of sculpture groups of the Lamentation, which show Christ's closest followers mourning his death. The chapel was built sometime before 1661, but work continued until around 1695, when the iron railing by Giovanni Pietro Allegrini and his brother Giacomo Allegrini was installed. The frescoes were painted by Carlo Francesco (c. 1608 - 1661) and Giuseppe Nuvolone (1619 - 1703), probably in the mid-sixteen-fifties, when they also completed the decorations for Chapel 10. Giovanni Battista Grandi (1643 - 1718) added to the painted decorations around 1690, likely with the help of his brother Gerolamo Grandi (1658 - 1718). / Orta is the second oldest Sacro Monte. Construction began on the chapels there in 1591, just over a hundred years after the first Sacro Monte site was established at nearby Varallo. A community of Capuchin friars lived on the mountain, oversaw construction, and guided visitors on their pilgrimages once the chapels were finished. One of the brothers, Cleto da Castelletto Ticino (1556 - 1619) designed a series of thirty-six mysteries for the site, although only twenty chapels were ever completed. Before joining the Capuchin Order, Cleto had trained as an architect and engineer. After construction began at Orta, he also worked alongside Pellegrino Tibaldi (1527 - 1596), one of Carlo Borromeo's favorite architects. Amico Canobio (1532 - 1592), a Benedictine Abbot and Commissioner of the secular lands within the diocese of Novara, oversaw Cleto's work and was the first major patron of the chapels at Orta. Carlo Bascapè (1550 - 1615) took charge of directing the progress at Orta as soon he was named Bishop of Novara in 1593, the year after Canobio's death.