Upper Basilica

The Façade (image)  The façade is divided into three parts. In the lowest part is a lovely portal that is reminiscent of the workmanship of the entryway of the Lower Basilica. It is  completed by an ogival arch, two wooden doors and a set of slender columns that culminate in other ogival arches.  The rose window, composed of concentric circles, is set between the two small arches and the symbols of the Four Evangelists are placed around it.  The upper section is triangular in shape. At the upper end there are two small circular towers, while to the left is a loge that is covered by a hemispherical dome built  at the beginning of the seventeenth century.

The Interior

We are looking at one of the finest examples of Italian Gothic art. The first thing that strikes us is the light streaming through the stained-glass windows, completely  the opposite of what we saw in the Lower Church, which has very little light.  The nave is divided into four bays by the pillars, which are composed of tall and slender columns that contribute greatly to giving the church its "soaring" feeling. The  cross vaults are frescoed to represent a sky sprinkled with stars.  The walls of the nave are divided by a long passageway.  The upper section of the walls is covered with frescoes (some of which have been lost) depicting scenes from the Old and New Testament.  Their attribution is uncertain, although some scholars think they are the work of Giotto and Cimabue.  Instead, the frescoes on the lower part of the walls were done by Giotto and his school.  What we have here is the most interesting and important pictorial cycle in Franciscan iconography.

• Artistic aspects of the Lower Basilica

Wooden Choir    The wooden choir, done by Domenico Indovini towards the end of the fifteenth century, is especially noteworthy.  The papal throne in the center is the work of an anonymous artist and dates to the thirteenth century.

   

Cloister of Sextus IV

The Colonnade

The Convent