Giotto and Saint Francis Featured in Major Medieval Art Exhibition in Italy - Medievalists.net

"placing the figure of Francis alongside that of Giotto makes vivid, visible, almost tactile the meaning of the cultural revolution that took shape in the heart of Umbria in the fourteenth century and spread throughout Europe."

"The exhibition frames this as a moment when the older, stylised tradition often labelled the "Greek manner" (rooted in Byzantine visual language) gave way to a new approach that aimed for weight, space, emotion, and physical presence-an approach closely associated with Giotto."

Italy commemorates the 800th anniversary of Saint Francis of Assisi's death with a major exhibition at the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria in Perugia from March to June 2026. The exhibition, titled "Giotto and Saint Francis: A Revolution in Fourteenth-Century Umbria," features over 60 works from the artistic workshop that developed around the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi. The show explores how Francis's life and spiritual influence reshaped devotion and pilgrimage, while Giotto's painting techniques transformed the visual representation of sacred figures. The exhibition traces the transition from Byzantine-influenced "Greek manner" to a new artistic approach emphasizing weight, space, emotion, and physical presence. Organized across eight sections, the exhibition demonstrates how Giotto's innovations spread throughout Umbrian towns and churches via local artists and followers, representing a cultural revolution that extended across Europe.

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