Smirking face of the Devil discovered in Giotto fresco

The Telegraph ^ | 11/6/2011 | Nick Squires, Rome

[bruinbirdman]

The smirking face of the Devil has been discovered hidden in a fresco by the Italian medieval artist Giotto after remaining undetected for more than 700 years in the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi.

The Satanic image went unnoticed until now because it is artfully hidden in the folds of a cloud and is invisible from ground level.

The discovery of the face, in a fresco which depicts the death of St Francis, was made by Chiara Frugoni, a medievalist and an expert on the saint.

"It's a powerful portrait, with a hooked nose, sunken eyes and two dark horns," Ms Frugoni said in an article in a forthcoming issue of the St Francis art history periodical.

"The significance of the image still needs to be delved into. In the Middle Ages it was believed that demons lived in the sky and that they could impede the ascension of human souls to Heaven.

"Until now it was thought that the first painter to use clouds in this way was Andrea Mantegna, with a painting of St Sebastian from 1460, in which high up in the sky there's a cloud from which a knight on horseback emerges. Now we know that Giotto was the first (to use this technique)."

Sergio Fusetti, the head of the restoration work in the basilica, said the devil face may have been a dig at somebody the artist had quarrelled with.

Claudio Strinati, an art historian, said it was not unusual for Renaissance artists to include hidden meanings in their works. "Paintings often had two facets – an explicit one and an implicit one."

Millions of pilgrims and tourists have trooped through the basilica in Assisi, in Umbria, since the fresco was painted in the 13th century without

[stylecouncilor]

Ping

[Not gonna take it anymore]

Glad you are able to see it now.

Isn’t it amazing how difficult it is to just describe something?

[Political Junkie Too]

Satin? What do you have against linens?

-PJ

[onedoug]

So funny....

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

HELEN THOMAS????

MICHAEL MOORE??

[rfp1234]

The darker ‘eye’ of the bigger face is actually the devil’s horn (smaller face, eyes closed).

[Altariel]

I am of the opinion that it is either a self portrait or a portrait of someone else.

[ApplegateRanch]

The question is whether it's suppoed to be the devil.

It's there, alright.

BUT if you look at the face again, the nose forms a beak & head; the lighter shading of the cheek under the eye forms a ring/collar. The dark shadow from the cheek bone to the rear of the mouth forms the breast, and rest of the body of a dove sweeps back towards the ear area.

Considering that this revolves around the death of Saint Francis, it may very well NOT be the devil.

[Captain Beyond]

I am with you on if it is satan. Could the spirit of St. Francis rising or some type of interpretation of it. I would think if he wanted the devil in there he would be more specific on it.

[Captain Beyond]

old art ping

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Thanks ApplegateRanch and Captain Beyond.. Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[GreenHornet]

You’re right - after I thought about it, I meant Lenin. Thanks for the catch.

[Winstons Julia]

Devil is in the details....

[Charles Henrickson]

if you look at the face again . . . the body of a dove sweeps back towards the ear area. . . . it may very well NOT be the devil.

So are you suggesting that the devil is NOT in the dovetails?

[Jemian]

ROTFLOL! Good one.

[Winstons Julia]

That would hinge on the artist’s intent. I can’t drawer any conclusions.

[SunkenCiv]

LOL!

[Constitution Day]