San Giacomo di Spoleto (13th century)
The earliest record of the parish church and adjacent hospice for pilgrims dates to 1291. The church was re-modeled in the 16th century.
Frescoes in the apse (1526)
Surviving documents record that some thirty inhabitants of San Giacomo contributed towards the payment for these frescoes by Giovanni di Pietro, lo Spagna, which are dated by inscription.
St James is depicted at the centre, holding a book and the staff of a pilgrim.
The scenes to each side depict two episodes in a legend of a couple that was making a pilgrimage to Compostela with their young son. He was unjustly accused of theft and condemned to hang, after which they continued sadly on their way.
In the scene on the left, the couple return to the scene of the execution to find their son still alive, prevented from hanging by St James.
In the scene on the right, they report the miracle to the incredulous judge, who looks up from his dinner to say that their son is dead as the roast chickens that he is about to eat. The chickens in question immediately come back to life.
The fresco in the vault depicts the Coronation of the Virgin with saints and angels. This scene is inspired by the fresco (1469) on the same subject by Fillippo Lippi in the apse of the Duomo, Spoleto.
The frescoes on the triumphal arch depict:
the figures of the Annunciation in tondi (above);
St Lucy (on the left); and
St Apollonia (on the right).
Madonna and Child with saints (1527)
This fresco in the Cappella di San Sebastiano, to the left of the apse, was probably the last work of Giovanni di Pietro, lo Spagna. It depicts the Madonna and Child with a martyred pope and SS Sebastian and Roch
Madonna and Child with saints (1530)
This fresco in the Cappella di Sant’ Antonio Abate, to the right of the apse, was completed by Dono Doni and Cecco di Bernardino d’ Assisi after the death of Giovanni di Pietro, lo Spagna. It depicts the Madonna and Child with SS Peter, Antony Abbot and Bartholomew
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