Chiesa e convento di Santa Chiara

Why it matters

Santa Chiara in Montefalco is associated with Chiara della Croce, the Augustinian abbess and mystic who died in 1308. The complex preserves the chapel associated with her death, frescoes dated to 1333 and her relics. The church's later Baroque architecture frames the older devotional history.

What to notice

The Cappella di Santa Croce, once the presbytery of the fourteenth-century church, contains frescoes dated 1333. The paintings include a Crucifixion, scenes from the lives of Saint Clare and Saint Blaise, donor portraits, and symbols of the Evangelists. In the right transept, a silver-and-crystal urn rests on a fourteenth-century base. The cloister preserves a painted wooden chest associated with the translation of Clare's relics in 1430 and a fresco of the saint with Augustine and Nicholas of Tolentino.

Context and history

The community began around 1270–1271, when Giovanna established an eremitical house at Santa Illuminata. Clare joined her in 1274. In 1281 the sisters moved beside the church of Santa Caterina de Bottaccio; in 1290 Bishop Gerardo of Spoleto placed them under the Rule of Saint Augustine. Clare became abbess after Giovanna's death in 1291 and founded the church of Santa Croce in 1303. After Clare's death in 1308, devotion to her grew. The present sanctuary was built from 1615 to a design attributed to Valentino Martelli.