Look At Assisi

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From Proietta:
Above is from “Proietta, Creativity and Technology”
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From Catholic News Agency:
+Giotto's Nativity fresco projected on the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

Saint Francis’ hometown of Assisi has once again been illuminated with Giotto’s frescoes this Christmas season. The frescoes from the interior of the Basilica of St. Francis are being projected each night onto the town’s churches from Dec. 8 to Jan. 10.

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From Vive Assisi [rough translation]:

from the Sacred Convent of Assisi
www.sanfrancescopatronoditalia.it

Relive the Christmas of Francis in Giotto’s frescoes projected on the facade of the Upper Basilica of San Francesco: tradition and modernity meet in Franciscan spirituality.
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The event was held on Tuesday, December 8, in Assisi and symbolically celebrates the work of health workers carried out during the covid19 pandemic. For the occasion, in fact, a statue depicting a nurse was placed in the life-size Nativity scene. A gesture in harmony with the message of Pope Francis who thanked those who work for others in the pandemic, comparing them to St. Joseph: the man who goes unnoticed. A special Christmas this year that will relive precisely in the Nativity scene invented by the Saint of Assisi. Present among others: Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the Custos of the Sacred Convent of Assisi, Fra Marco Moroni, the Mayor of Assisi, Stefania Proietti, and Gianni Morandi who sang “Bianco Natale”. At 5 pm Holy Mass was held in the lower Basilica of San Francesco,chaired by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti. During the homily the Cardinal stressed that: «we are made to generate life … We cannot remain timidly closed in the sacristies or continue to repeat the usual things; nor can we worry about being accepted by everyone, gathering support, not receiving too many criticisms and not losing some privileges …
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Therefore, it is obvious that it is irrational to wait for the Covid plague to pass to start everything again as before; this plague asks us to take action to change our lifestyle, to get out of the slavery of the current economic system and re-enter the path that leads to Paradise, the path of fraternity, of mutual love. At 18.25, the blessing of the Nativity scene and the lighting of the Christmas tree. A Nativity scene that crosses the squares and streets of the city of Assisi from side to side to transform it into a new Bethlehem. Life-size statues and video projections that reproduce Giotto’s frescoes on the facades of the Upper Basilica of San Francesco and the Cathedral of San Rufino, video mapping, by the architect Marco Capasso, and plays of lights in the streets of the city, with the management art by Mario Cucinella.
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The Nativity scene is made up of 50 shepherds who reproduce the Nativity and the Annunciation. The Christmas tree, installed in the lower square of the Basilica of San Francesco, is a white fir of 13 meters and is offered by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry of the Autonomous Province of Trento. The fir, decorated with about 40,000 LED lights, comes from sustainable forestry in the Mocheni Valley and a new one is immediately replanted for each plant cut in these areas.comes from sustainable forestry in the Mocheni Valley and a new one is immediately replanted for each plant cut in these areas.comes from sustainable forestry in the Mocheni Valley and a new one is immediately replanted for each plant cut in these areas.
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Father Enzo Fortunato, director of the Sacro Convento Press Room, pointed out how “we have combined tradition and technology to ensure that everything becomes a bridge, yesterday as today. Those who can come to Assisi in these days, until January 6, pandemic permitting, will have the opportunity to see a videomapping that will give “new” light to the entire facade of the Basilica of San Francesco ». Thanks to the web app nataledifrancesco.it it will be possible to admire until 6 January the video projections of the Nativity of Jesus and the Annunciation of Mary, frescoes by Giotto and workshop in the Lower Basilica of San Francesco, and the exclusive video mapping of the interior of the Monumental Complex, which will allow the viewer to immerse themselves in the over 10 thousand square meters of frescoes, created by the architect Marco Capasso’s studio.The initiatives of the Sacred Convent of Assisi on 8 December, with the patronage of the Umbria Region and the City of Assisi, are supported by Enel, the Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia Foundation and the Cassa di Risparmio di Città di Castello Foundation. The project is carried out in collaboration with Mario Cucinella Architects.THE PROJECT The project “Il Natale di Francesco” wants to bring the Christmas holiday back to its origins, recalling the Nativity for the city of Assisi which will be transformed into an imaginary Nativity scene. Everyone will be able to connect to the nataledifrancesco.it web app to follow the narration and spirituality of St. Francis every evening with the wonder of new technologies:
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The symbolic image of Christmas will be projected on the entire facade of the Upper Basilica of San Francesco: the Nativity of Jesus, to renew the deep bond between the Saint of Assisi and the Nativity scene. The technique used will be mixed: life-size statues and video images of the fresco in the lower nave of the Basilica. The Annunciation of Mary, on the other hand, will be projected on the facade of the Cathedral of San Rufino. The glass Basilica: every 30 minutes from 17 to 22 the crib will be turned off to make room for a video mapping on the facade of the Upper Basilica that will allow the viewer to see the inside of the Monumental Complex, with its frescoes, and immerse themselves in an evocative narrative of the Christmas of St. Francis. A work of computer graphics that will allow, for the first time ever, to admire the interior of the Basilica (in 1: 1 scale) even when it is closed to the public. A story that will cross different scenarios and the virtual reconstruction of the construction site of the Monumental Complex.

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The city of Assisi will turn into an imaginary nativity scene. Thanks to a play of lights, some symbolic buildings of the city visible from the valley will be illuminated with particular colors: Basilica San Francesco, Basilica Santa Chiara, Rocca Maggiore, Rocca Minore, Monte Frumentario, Civic Tower of the Piazza del Comune and Cathedral of San Rufino . There will also be a scenographic lighting of the streets that connect the Basilica of San Francesco to the Cathedral.

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