Convento di Monteripido

(1276, church rebuilt 1856-8)


The church and convent stand on the site of the hermitage on Monteripido in which Brother Giles lived for some 30 years and in which he died in 1261.  {It is possible to visit this hermitage, but I have never managed it.]

The land here belonged to the Coppoli family until 1276, when Giacomo di Boncorte Coppoli gave the site to the friars of San Francesco al Prato.  A convent here was documented in 1290 and a church in 1310. 

In 1374, the Blessed Paoluccio Trinci came to Perugia and defeated a group of dissident Franciscans in an open debate.  In response, the Minister General transferred the Convento di Monteripido to the new Observant wing of the order.

The convent played host to a series of important Observant Franciscans in the 15th century:

  • St Bernardino of Siena established a Studium Generale here;

  • St John of Capestrano served his novitiate here;

  • St James of the Marches lectured here; and

  • Brothers Barnaba Manassei, Michele Carcano, Fortunato Coppoli (from the family who had donated the land to the Franciscans) and the Blessed Bernardino da Feltre conceived the idea of the Monti di Pietà here in 1462.

The church was rebuilt in 1858: the apse and the vaulting of the nave are original, and a chapel on the left was added in 1588.  The choir stalls (1571-81) were moved here from the Oratorio di San Domenico in 1863.

  

  • Modern frescoes in the lunettes on the external façade feature the symbol “IHS” and, in the middle, the crossed stigmatised arms of Christ and St Francis.

  • Inside the church, on the right wall, there is a triptych (1923) by Gerardo Dottori, which he gave to the friars in 1971.  The panels depict:

    • St Francis and the wolf of Gubbio (on the left);
    • the death of St Francis (in the centre); and
    • St Francis preaching to the birds (on the right).

Works Removed from the Church

Double-sided dossal (ca. 1320)

This double-sided dossal is by the  Maestro di Paciano, so-called because this autograph work was first recorded in 1872 (the year in which it was transferred to the Galleria Nazionale (Room 4) in the observant Franciscan Convento di Sant’ Antonio di Padova, Paciano Vecchio, outside Perugia.  However, this convent did not exist until 1496, so it was clearly not the dossal's original location.  It is of similar format to the earlier one from San Francesco al Prato, and it is likely that it was originally commissioned for the friars' other convent at Monteripido.  It probably passed to the convent at Paciano when a replacement was commissioned in 1503 (see below).

Two figures kneel before the Madonna and Child in the dossal:

  • a layman, presumably the donor, on the left; and

  • a Franciscan on the right. 

The Franciscan wears a patched cloak over his habit and has a rayonant halo that suggests that he has been beatified.  If the hypothesis that the dossal came from Monteripido is correct, this figure is almost certainly the Blessed Giles.

St Francis receives the stigmata (ca. 1500)    

This fresco, which is attributed to Lo Spagna, was detached from the facade in 1858.  It was transferred to the Galleria Nazionale in 1863 and is now in the deposit  there.

Adoration of the Shepherds (ca. 1504)

The frescoed lunette, which is attributed to Perugino, came from the Cappella della Natività, which was one of two chapels that the friars built in 1498-9 in the cloister facing the facade.  The arms of Ercolani family of Panicale were sculpted in relief on one of the pilasters of the chapel, and they probably commissioned the fresco along with two others (of the annunciation to the shepherds and the adoration of the Magi) in the lunettes of the chapel walls. 

The three frescoes were detached in 1856 but the other two were subsequently lost.  The surviving fresco is now in the Galleria Nazionale (Room 23).

Monte Ripido Altarpiece (1503-4)

The friars commissioned this double-sided altarpiece from Perugino to complement a polychrome wooden Crucifix (ca. 1460) attributed to Giovanni Tedesco that already decorated the high altar. 

Agostino Tofanelli selected the altarpiece for the Musei Capitolini, Rome in 1812.  It was returned to Perugia in 1817 and ceremonially translated to its original position on the high altar in 1822.  It entered the Galleria Nazionale (Room 23) in 1863.

Madonna and Child with saints (ca. 1518)

This altarpiece seems to have been commissioned from Perugino in 1518 by Friar Pietro da Castello, but it has recently been attributed at least in part to his associate, Berto di Giovanni. It was recorded in the 18th century in the sacristy  and passed to the Galleria Nazionale in 1863.  It is now in the deposit there.

Madonna and child with saints (1518)

According to the inscriptions, Luca Alberto Podiani commissioned this altarpiece in 1518 from Sinibaldo Ibi.  [Luca Alberto Podiani (1474-1551) was a celebrated doctor and scholar, rector of the Sapienza Vecchia in the period 1504-20.]

There are two possibilities for its original location:

  • the Convento di Monteripido, where, according to his will of 1548, Luca wished to be buried; or

  • Sant’ Agostino, where Luca was actually buried in 1555, in his family chapel that was dedicated to St Leonard).

It is now in the deposit of the Galleria Nazionale.

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