The Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi represents the turning point, in Italian art, from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. The cycles of murals by Lorenzetti, Martini, Cimabue, and Giotto are among the icons of Western art, and somehow they still retain enormous emotional power. More than a score of recorded earthquakes had rattled the stones of the great Romanesque church in the 800 years since its construction began, but visitors over the centuries repeatedly remarked on the particular peacefulness of this monument to the saint who preached to sparrows and sultans alike. On September 26, l997, that peace was shattered by the worst quake in Assisi's history. A huge section of the Vault of the Evangelists, including Cimabue's St. Matthew and Giotto's St. Jerome, fell to the floor, killing four people. That afternoon, Ghigo Roli had completed documenting the vaults, and this book of crystalline, miraculously well-lighted photographs is the best, last record of the ceiling as a unified whole. The book contains a brief essay by Giorgio Bonsanti about the history of the church and its paintings, and a short but harrowing account by Roli of being there when the earthquake struck. In the back of the book are four stills from a video documentary that caught the massive crash of the vault. These are reproduced small, but their impact on the reader is huge, because of the preceding pages that make clear what has been lost forever. --Peggy Moorman


From School Library Journal
YA-For 670 years, the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi has stood as an architectural treasure, housing medieval masterpieces of Chimabue and Giotto. On September 26, 1997, an earthquake took the lives of four people and destroyed frescoes and decorative elements in the upper basilica. Photographer Ghigo Roli had spent many months taking more than 2000 detailed pictures of the frescoes for an upcoming publication. When disaster struck, he barely escaped with his life, leaving behind his camera, which was later found intact. The photographs in this book are the last taken of the now-destroyed vaults of the basilica and are the last record of their existence. Also shown are several dramatic photos taken during the earthquake and immediately after the dust had settled. The text is minimal; the reproductions are fascinating and poignant. There is a fine description of the history and art of the basilica by Bonsanti, an art historian. But it is the photographer's diary notes giving a minute-by-minute account of the indescribable destruction and terror that give readers a compelling picture of the events of that day. Together, Bonsanti and Roli's words remind readers of the fragility of human life and human creativity.Turid Teague, Fairfax County Public Library, VACopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Italian

FROM THE PUBLISHER