I was rather pleased to be shown to where some historic frescoes are located in this beautiful church. The frescoes were painted in the second half of the fourteenth century, but they had become forgotten following a Baroque restoration, an earthquake and numerous other little renovations about the place. They were rediscovered in the early twentieth century, following the 1916 earthquake. They’re located in the apse of the church, but visitors have to walk around to see them as they’re separated off from the altar and the main part of the church.
They’re painted by what is referred to as the Rimini School of Painting, which is in the style of early Gothic art. The frescoes have been stabilised now as part of a restoration, but there are quite big gaps in the whole arrangement thanks to the passage of time. Much of this damage was done between 1580 and 1585 when an Episcopal decree stated that the walls needed to be whitewashed.
