More news from Julia on the situation in Assisi... George
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Have been struggling to get more exact information on the damaged
frescoes in Assisi, have asked art historian colleagues in Florence, and
got no answers. From La Nazione I find that totally lost are the Cimabue
St Matthew of the four Evangelists of the central vault in the transept,
and the early Giotto of St Jerome seated before a desk with books
dictating to a cleric in the vaults of the four Doctors of the Church.
(The Benozzo Gozzoli frescoes at Montefalco are also gravely at risk.)
The others in Assisi can be repaired, it is said. This is not as bad as
we first thought, but the Basilica's structure is gravely threatened
with gaping holes in walls and ceilings. Further earthquakes are
occurring, one even yesterday almost as strong as the second one which
did such devastating damage, shaking the Madonna on Santa Maria degli
Angeli visibily, and many monuments in Umbria and the Marche are at
grave risk with huge cracks in their walls, etc. People are living in
tent cities (in Italian, tendepoli) and many have lost everything they
owned and worked for all their lives. That the earthquakes occurred
around the Feast of St Francis is causing grave spiritual doubts. And
the weather is turning cold. Help could be sent with a cheque, stating
its purpose, 'Basilica di San Francesco in Assisi', or 'Vittimi
Terremotati Umbria e Marche', to the Minister Generalis, Ordinis Fratrum
Minorum Conventualium, Piazza SS. Apostoli, 51, 00187 ROMA, ITALY?
Please circulate to interested parties.
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Julia Bolton Holloway, Hermit of the Holy Family via del Partigiano 16,
Montebeni, 50014 FIESOLE, ITALY [log in to unmask]
http://members.aol.com/juliansite/Juliansite.htm
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