San Francesco is an ancient, Roman Catholic church and convent, rebuilt in

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style in the hill-town of

Larino Larino ( nap, label= Campobassan dialect, Larìne; la, Larinum) is a town and ''comune'' of approximately 8,100 inhabitants in Molise, province of Campobasso, southern Italy. It is located in the fertile valley of the Biferno River. The old to ...

, in the

Province of Campobasso A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

, Region of Molise, Italy.

History

San Francesco was originally constructed in the 14th-century, contemporary with cathedral, and refurbished in the 18th-century. The facade has Romanesque carved spolia from the 9th century. The vault of the church presbytery has a large fresco depicting ''Glory of St Francis'' by

Paolo Gamba Paolo Gamba (29 October 1712 – 26 December 1782) was an Italians, Italian painter of the late Baroque period, active in the region of Molise. Biography He was born to poor family in Ripabottoni in the province of Campobasso, region of Molise. H ...

. Gamba also painted the ''Assumption'' (1747) and the ''Evangelists'' in the cupola roof. One of the evangelists is supposed to be a portrait of the artist. Gamba also likely painted the ''St Vincent Ferrer'' and ''St Lucia with Angels in Glory''. The 18th-century reconstructions removed the wooden roof, and left highly decorative interior decorations of marble, stucco, and ironwork. The baroque choir has an organ painted with the

Franciscan order , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

symbols (two arms crossed with the cross in the middle). Much of the side altars have painted statuary from the 18th and 19th centuries, including a ''St Roch'' by

Paolo Saverio Di Zinno Paolo is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Paul. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Paolo Art *Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter *Paolo Abbate (1884–1973), Italian-American ...

. A deteriorated canvas depicting the ''Expulsion of the Merchants from the Temple'' is attributed to

Francesco Solimena Francesco Solimena (4 October 1657 – 3 April 1747) was a prolific Italian painter of the Baroque era, one of an established family of painters and draughtsmen. Biography Francesco Solimena was born in Canale di Serino in the province of ...

. A ''San Pardo'' is attributed to Luca Giordano. The convent was suppressed in 1809.Region of Molise tourism office
entry.

References

Romanesque architecture in Molise Churches in the province of Campobasso 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Francesco Larino {{italy-church-stub