The 12th March 1326, with a solemn celebration, the first stone of the new and larger church of Saint Francis was laid. Designed by two Sienese architects, Agostino di Giovanni and Agnolo di Ventura, the church was erected in same the place where the previous and smaller Franciscan church, which was initially preserved in order to enable the continuity of religious practice, used to stand. After little more than twenty years from the opening of the building yard, the onset of the terrible Black Death of 1348 struck the city tremendously, killing over half the population. This brought not only the construction of the church of Saint Francis, but also other construction sites in the city to a standstill. At that time the apse and the crossing chapels had almost certainly been completed as, together with the altar, they were always the first elements to be constructed in a church. Some fragments of frescoes that are visible on the right side wall of the nave can be traced back to this period: they represent the Visitation, some Saints and The Stigmata of Saint Francis. The fake polyptych painted by Andrea Vanni in the chapel of the Sacrament, also belongs to the same period (1370). The construction of the church was resumed in 1407. The restoration work was particularly active and much needed after the long period of neglect. It is easy to believe that this new building zeal had . . .