As described in the page on the lower church, an altar dedicated to St Stanislaus was mentioned in the bull (1256) in which Pope Alexander IV granted indulgences to those visiting San Francesco on the feast of the saint. This was almost certainly under the blind arch on the left of the 3rd bay of the nave of the lower church.
When the nearby choir screen was demolished in ca. 1300, a “cantoria” (singing gallery) was built in this arch, and some of the Cosmatesque panels from the old screen were used to decorate it. The frescoes (see below) under the arch of the cantoria document the association of this location with St Stanislaus.
The arms frescoed depicted under the arch of the chapel are those of the Soldani family, who had presumably acquired the chapel in the 14th century:
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✴Jolo Soldani, who died in 1337, left a number of legacies to the confraternities of Assisi and was buried in San Pietro.
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✴His son, Giovanni, was the guardian of the Sacro Convento in 1337-8.
A document in the archives of the Sacro Convento records the concession (or re-concession) of the chapel to Mattio Angelo del Soldano in the 16th century.
The chapel passed to Sperello Sperelli in 1564.
Frescoes (ca. 1337)
The frescoes in the cantoria were presumably commissioned by the Soldani family and are usually dated to the year in which Jolo Soldani died. Giorgio Vasari attributed them to Tommasa di Stefano, Giottino. However, scholars generally accept the attribution made by his contemporary, Fra Ludovico da Pietralunga (referenced below) to Puccio Capanna.
The frescoes depict:
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✴the coronation of the Virgin (unfinished), on the back wall;
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✴two scenes from the life of St Stanislaus, under the arch:
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•the martyrdom of St Stanislaus, on the left; and
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•St Stanislaus raising a man from the dead, on the right; and
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✴the Crucifixion with the Virgin and St John the Evangelist, below the scene of the martyrdom of St Stanislaus.
This was one of very few works executed at San Francesco during the period of papal interdict (1320-52), as set out in the page on San Francesco in the 14th Century.
Read more:
P. Scarpellini, “Fra Ludovico da Pietralunga: Descrizione della Basilica di San Francesco d’ Assisi”, (1982), Treviso
Return to the page on Chapels in the Lower Church.
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