The exhibition “San Francesco alla Porziuncola”-St Francis at the Porziuncola and the new layout of the Museum

On Friday, the 31st July at 4:30 p.m., as part of the celebrations of the Solemnity of the Pardon of Assisi 2026, the exhibition "St. Francis at the Porziuncola. The artistic parable of the face of Francis of Assisi in the place of his transitus" - open until the 25th October 2026 and the rearrangement of the ancient nucleus of the Porziuncola Museum. 

The initiative represents one of the most significant cultural events of the Eighth Centenary of the Transit of St. Francis and marks an important step in enhancing the historical, artistic, and spiritual heritage preserved by the Seraphic Province of St. Francis of Assisi. The new layout of the museum and the exhibition constitute a single cultural project, conceived to offer pilgrims and visitors a renewed reading of the deep bond that unites St. Francis to the Portiuncula, the privileged place of his evangelical experience and his "blessed transit". 

The rearrangement bears the signature of Br. Saul Tambini, OFM, director of the Porziuncola Museum, and Dr. Donatella Vaccari, curator of the Museum and contact person for the Cultural Heritage of the Seraphic Province of San Francesco. The museographic design was entrusted to the architect Gregorio Pecorelli and was developed in constant dialogue with the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Umbria, directed by the superintendent Dr. Francesca Valentini, with the aim of combining protection, enhancement, and accessibility in full respect of the historical and spiritual identity of the monumental complex. 

"We are particularly happy to inaugurate this new museum itinerary precisely in the days of the Pardon of Assisi and in the Franciscan Year," says Br. Saul. "The museum was created to preserve works of extraordinary value and to accompany every pilgrim and every visitor to understand how the Porziuncola became the heart of the experience of St. Francis and continues to speak to the Church and the world today." 

The exhibition, curated by Br. Saul and Dr Vaccari, starts from the museum's permanent heritage. Alongside the masterpieces of Cimabue and the Master of St. Francis, fundamental works in the definition of Franciscan iconography, and important loans from the Seraphic Province and prestigious Italian and international institutions, will be exhibited. Among these, the large panel by Taddeo di Bartolo, St. Francis crushing Pride, Lust and Avarice, granted by the National Gallery of Umbria, and an unpublished canvas by Giovanni Cariani, never presented to the public, depicting St. Francis reading, stand out. 

One of the most original nuclei of the exhibition will be dedicated to the dialogue between Francis and Clare. For the first time, the autograph breviary of St. Clare and the breviary of St. Francis, kept at the Protomonastery of St. Clare, will be presented together in a comparison of exceptional rarity and symbolic value. The itinerary will also be enriched by precious illuminated manuscripts from the heritage of the Seraphic Province and by a significant in-depth study of twentieth-century art with works by Gerardo Dottori, including the Triptych of the Transition, the bronze panels by Ettore Calvelli and some incursions into contemporary art, testifying to the constant relevance of the figure of the Saint of Assisi. 

"The rearrangement of the museum and the exhibition constitute a single cultural project," emphasises Dr. Donatella Vaccari. "The goal was not simply to reorganise the exhibition spaces or present works of extraordinary value, but to build a narrative capable of putting art, history and spirituality in dialogue. Each work contributes to telling the profound link between the Porziuncola and the message of St. Francis, offering the visitor an experience of authentic knowledge". 

St. Francis at the Porziuncola, from the 31st July to the 25th  October, 2026.
Museum of the Porziuncola, Piazza Porziuncola, 1 – Assisi 
For info: https://porziuncola.org/il-museo-della-porziuncola/