Giotto's St. Francis frescoes unveiled in Florence after four-year restoration

A cycle of frescoes by the 14th-century Italian master Giotto depicting the life of St. Francis of Assisi has gone on public view in Florence after a four-year restoration.

The "Stories of St. Francis," newly returned to vividness, were unveiled last week in the Basilica of Santa Croce, ahead of the 800th anniversary of the saint's death on Oct. 4.

Giotto, who died in Florence in 1337, is widely regarded as the foremost Italian painter of his era and as a father of European painting. His innovations shaped the Renaissance style that emerged after his death.

Painted between 1317 and 1325 for a side chapel in the basilica, the frescoes have regained their richness through the restoration, offering fresh insight into Giotto's techniques and style, restorers said.

Emanuela Daffra, superintendent of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, said the work removed layers of film and later additions that had obscured Giotto's original vision, revealing what she described as his profound capacity for expression.

"Today, we can clearly interpret the gazes" of the figures in the scenes, she said, adding that Giotto knew how to orchestrate them within spaces that emphasized the meaning of the scenes, with a high degree of detail.

The frescoes had been covered by several layers of lime whitewash applied in the 18th century, a common fate for frescoes then considered outdated. In 1851, as preparations began for a new decoration of the chapel, some of the whitewash was removed, but the process also damaged the works. Further interventions followed in the 1950s before the latest restoration began in 2022.

The project consolidated the most fragile parts of the cycle, reduced signs of deterioration, removed deposits and altered materials, and replaced much of the old synthetic grouting from earlier restorations with mixtures more compatible with the original plasterwork.

Restorers also used an innovative no-touch device for ground-penetrating radar analysis, thermal imaging cameras and a laser scanner, which was used to build a 3D model of the chapel.

Santa Croce is one of the largest Franciscan churches in the world and holds the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli. The frescoes cover some 180 square meters in the Bardi Chapel, to the right of the central altar, and recount seven key episodes in Francis' life.

Among the scenes are Francis' renunciation of worldly goods, the approval of the Franciscan Rule, and the trial by fire, in which he offers to walk through fire to convert the Sultan of Egypt.

The Bardi family, among the wealthiest and most powerful bankers in Europe, acquired patronage of the chapel and commissioned Giotto to paint its frescoes. That tradition of patronage has now evolved into a collective funding effort: some 250 private donors contributed 700,000 euros toward the total restoration cost of 1.3 million euros, according to the Opera di Santa Croce, which cares for and manages the basilica.