During the eight hundred years since its founding, the Basilica of St. Francis has survived twenty-three recorded earthquakes. None, however, was as devastating as the most recent in September 1997. This important volume offers an incomparable opportunity to see the entire basilica of St. Francis, including the frescoes of St. Jerome and St. Matthew, which were lost forever when they fell from the nave of the church.

The text relates the story of the painting of the church - the events depicted by the frescoes themselves, and the progress of work by painters under the tutelage of Cimabue and Giotto, some of whose hands are discernable in individual masterpieces, such as the fresco of Isaac.

The Basilica of St. Francis will be restored, but it will never again be as complete as before the tragedy of nature that claimed an important part of art history and Italian culture. Assisi is an important document of our cultural heritage.