Church of Saint Francis, Gothic church in Brescia, Italy
The Church of Saint Francis in Brescia has a gabled facade of regular medolo stone blocks divided into three sections by two thin pilasters. Its interior combines a raised central nave with a wooden keel-shaped roof, a polygonal apse, and side chapels, including two with octagonal domes. The walls alternate medolo stone and brick, creating a chiaroscuro effect.
Construction began in 1254 on land the Brescia commune gave the Franciscans in thanks for pacifying internal feuds; the church was finished in 1265. In 1463 Francesco Sansone had the presbytery enlarged with a new choir and polygonal apse under architect Antonio Zurlengo. The Jacobins deconsecrated it, and Rodolfo Vantini remodelled it in neoclassical taste from 1838; the Franciscans recovered it in 1926.
The convent cloister, designed by Guglielmo da Frisone, was finished in 1394, and the friars still live in the monastery. Inside, the first altar on the left holds Moretto da Brescia's Saints Margaret of Antioch, Jerome and Francis (1530), while the fourth altar on the left has Il Romanino's Descent of the Holy Spirit (1520). The Chapel of St Jerome on the right keeps decorative sculpture of 1506 by Gasparo da Coirano.
The building remains active today and welcomes visitors during its open hours. Since monks live in the attached monastery, you should be respectful of quiet times and religious activities taking place inside.
The church holds wall paintings from the 1300s that show religious scenes layered in different areas of the building. These old paint layers sit one above another, revealing how artistic styles and tastes shifted through the centuries.
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