If you want to know when Western art shifted from flat, rigid figures to raw human emotion, you need to look at one wall inside the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence. Tucked inside the Bardi Chapel sits Giotto’s 14th century fresco cycle depicting the stories of Saint Francis.
The emotional climax of the cycle is undeniably ‘The Death and Ascension of Saint Francis’, that the master painted between 1317 and 1325.
When Giotto taught paintings to cry: ‘The Death of Saint Francis’ in the Bardi Chapel
The Bardi Chapel was commissioned by the Bardi family, a noble family that was then at the apex of its financial and political power in Florence. The subject of the frescoes – the humble, impecunious Saint Francis – might not seem very apt for a wealthy banking family, but it was indeed perfect for the Basilica of Santa Croce, the city’s most important Franciscan church.
Giotto was experimenting with a new realistic style, having studied under Cimabue and then frescoed the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, where he reached the peak of his naturalistic style, creating lifelike weights, volumes, and psychological expressions.
Here in the Bardi Chapel he brings to life key episodes of Saint Francis’ life: when he received the stigmata while praying on Mount La Verna, and the psychologically charged ‘Francis renouncing his possession’, that shows his angry father and a young Francis pointing at the sky, more interested in the spiritual realm than earthly affairs.
But it’s ‘The Death of Saint Francis’ that is a real masterclass in humanistic storytelling, composition, and psychological depth. Friars, gathered for his funeral, are surrounding the saint’s body. Each character has his own individual story: one friar cradles Francis’ feet, weeping openly. One is amazed when he sees that the saints’ soul is being carried heavenward by angels, while another friar kisses the stigmata, while a disbelieving nobleman examines the wound in St. Francis’ side.
The whole scene forces us, the viewers, to take part in it. Including the characters that turn their backs to us, making us feel we are part of a crowded, grieving room.
Contemporaries were astonished when Giotto’s frescoes in Santa Croce were revealed. Viewers in the 14th century felt that Giotto’s figures possessed true physical weight, depth, and three-dimensional presence. The natural gestures and realistic expression used in these frescoes made sacred stories feel immediate and emotionally reachable.
Giotto was revolutionising art history. His revolutionary techniques and stylistic solutions that have paved the way for future generation of artists.
Giovanni Boccaccio called Giotto ‘a supreme genius’ whose lifelike art perfectly mirrored nature, and Florentine artist Lorenzo Ghiberti (the one behind the Doors of Paradise!) praised Giotto’s immense skills in decorating the Santa Croce chapels, confirming the profound, lasting impression the master left on generations of local artists.
Vasari credited Giotto with single-handedly reviving the art of painting: Giotto “banished the rude Byzantine manner” – he wrote – and introduced the practice of drawing accurately from nature.
In the same Church of Santa Croce we find another of Giotto’s most notable works: the fresco cycle “Lives of Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist” decorates the Peruzzi Chapel.
DID YOU KNOW? Saint Francis was not a new subject for Giotto – if it’s true that (like many art historian believe) he had worked in Assisi for years decorating the Basilica Superiore with a large fresco cycle dedicated to the life of the saint, with detailed episode based on the biography ‘Legenda Maior’ by Bonaventura. But the debate about the paternity of the Assisi frescoes is still open.
Author: Sabrina Nesi, co-founder of Lovefromtuscany.com, passionate about sharing the beauty of Tuscany and Italy with the world.
Disclaimer: some links to tours and services on this site will earn us affiliate commission, at no extra cost to you. The small commission we earn help us keeping the site going, thanks for reading! 🙂
READ ALSO:
* Most Beautiful Frescoes to See in Florence
* My Secret Florence: Hidden Gems in the City of the Renaissance
This post, published on 3rd October 2026 marks the 800th centenary of the death of Saint Francis, who died in Assisi on 3rd October 1326.
