Part III. Italy Chapter 54. The Road to Assisi [April 23, 1348] Cultural Explanations

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	In this chapter Buonamico receives a commission for a painting in Pisa and Bávlos heads with Giovanni for Assisi
Nieiddash, Admirabilis, Bávlos, Giovanni, fish

In this chapter, Bávlos completes a carving of the Virgin for Buonamico and heads with Giovanni toward Assisi. On the way, he learns more about the life of St. Francis, particularly about his wandering ways and songs. In the meantime, Buonamico uses the carving to ingratiate himself furhter with Bishop Luigi and obtain a commission for a grand painting at the Camposanto of Pisa: A Last Judgment.

In his story of the life of Buonamico Buffalmacco, the sixteenth-century art historian Giorgio Vasari states that Buonamico painted scenes of the life of St. Catherine of Alexandria in the Church of St. Francis in Assisi. Modern critics have dismissed the claim. I took the liberty of changing the historical details so that Buonamico produced scenes of the life of St. Francis in the Basilica of St. Francis at Siena. The art of this church is all later than the fourteenth century, as the church underwent major remodelling in the fifteenth century, so any pictures that Buonamico would have produced there--had there been any--would have been painted over.

I used Giotto's paintings of the life of St. Francis from the Upper Basilica in Assisi as my inspiration for the details in this chapter. Here you can see St. Francis conversing with the cross, and the pope asleep with his hat on.

Giotto. St. Francis and the Cross	Giotto. The Pope's Dream of St Francis

Click HERE to visit the site from which these images are drawn.

St. Francis was indeed a man very much like Bávlos in many respects. His songs--some of the earliest works in the Italian language--are full of loving references to animals and nature. You can follow this link to read the Italian original of his Canticle of the Sun and a close English translation. It is not surprising that Bávlos would interpret the song as a joik.

	Franciscan Priory, Siena