Cimabue's Frescoes of the Virgin at Assisi

Abstract

In the choir of the upper church of Saint Francis at Assisi the Florentine artist Cimabue depicted scenes from the life of the Virgin in an impressive series of frescoes. In the upper areas of the walls of the polygonal apse are, on the left, the Annunciation to Joachim and the Suitors Before the High Priest and, on the right, the Birth and Marriage of the Virgin.¹ Below, these episodes from the early life of the Virgin are the Last Hours of the Virgin (Fig. 1), the Death of the Virgin (Fig. 2), the Assumption (Figs. 3, 4) and the Virgin in Glory (Fig. 5)—four large scenes which are our principal concern here.