Located in the center of Montefalco, in the area between the old city walls and those of 1328, on Via Ringhiera Umbra.
The church was built around 1340 by the Friars Minor; at a later period, probably between the late 14th and early 15th centuries, six chapels were added on the right side.
Around 1585, on the left side of the church, a chapel was opened by interest of the provincial minister of the Friars Minor, Clemente Bontadosi, with an imposing façade consisting of two Corinthian-style columns, with an architrave decorated with scrolls and a broken triangular pediment. In 1876, the architect Francesco Salvati from Montefalco created the façade covering and opened the bifora window above the portal; further restorations carried out in 1889 led to the demolition of the Baroque altars and the rebuilding of the roof trusses.
In 1863 the church became the property of the Municipality of Montefalco and in 1895 was converted into an art gallery; restoration work carried out at the end of the 20th century allowed the museum to reopen to the public.
The façade, covered with light stone blocks, is shaped like a gable and framed by two pilasters; in the center is a pointed arch portal bordered by two pilasters that, resting on a high base and crowned by capitals with rosettes, are joined by a classical-style entablature with triglyphs and metopes, supporting a triangular pediment. In the upper area is a bifora window opened in 1876.
The interior features a single nave ending with a polygonal apse and two square chapels; on the right side, six interconnected chapels open and one on the left side. The nave is covered with wooden trusses, while the chapels have ribbed vaults and the apse has an angled dome. The dome in the apse area is reinforced by ribs ending on corbels decorated with female faces, a bishop’s face, a friar’s face, an eagle and a lion; on the central wall is a large two-tier bifora window that provides brightness to the space. The vaults of the chapels are also ribbed, and the ribs’ corbels have foliate motifs.
In the right nave, in the first bay, is the Chapel of St. Jerome, frescoed between 1450 and 1452 by Benozzo Gozzoli. This is the first major fresco cycle painted independently by the Florentine artist, then in his thirties, who for years had been an assistant to Beato Angelico. On the main wall is a fake polyptych depicting the Madonna and Child surrounded by Saints Anthony of Padua, Jerome, John the Baptist and Louis of Toulouse; above, the Crucifixion and Saints and two episodes from the life of St. Jerome; on the vault the four Evangelists and other fragmented scenes from the saint’s life.
Under the arch: Christ blessing and Angels, Saint Bernardino of Siena, Saint Cenerina of Alexandria, Saint Jerome in the desert, and Saint Sebastian.
In the second bay is the Chapel of St. Bernardino with frescoes by Jacopo Vincioli (1461).
Under the third bay is the Chapel of the Crucifix which houses a shaped Crucifix with the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist on the sides, and Saint Francis at the feet of Christ, the work of the Expressionist Master of Santa Chiara.
The fourth bay houses the chapel dedicated to the Assumption with frescoes by Giovanni di Corraduccio and workshop.
The fifth bay has the chapel dedicated to Saint Anthony the Abbot, also with frescoes by Giovanni di Corraduccio and workshop, and a panel by Tiberio d’Assisi depicting the Madonna della Misericordia (1510).
From the sixth bay, through a wooden door made in 1610, access is gained to the Chapel of the Annunciation with frescoes by Giovanni di Corraduccio and workshop.
The right apse preserves frescoes by the Master of the Montefalco Apse; the central polygonal apse is frescoed with Stories of St. Francis by Benozzo Gozzoli in 1452.
Under the arch are St. Francis and the twelve Apostles inside medallions; on the vault the glory of St. Francis and Saints Anthony of Padua, Clare, Bernardino of Siena, Elizabeth of Hungary and Louis of Toulouse. On the walls, starting from the bottom left, are stories of the life of St. Francis.
Note also in the counter-façade, to the right of the main portal, the niche frescoed by Perugino (1503) with the Nativity surmounted by the Annunciation and the Eternal Blessing.
Information about Church and Convent of St. Francis of Montefalco
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06036 Montefalco (Perugia)
Source: MIBACT
