Oratorio dei Pellegrini

The small and inestimable Oratorio dei Pellegrini, a true masterpiece of Italian Renaissance art in Assisi, is located half way between the Piazza del Comune and the Basilica of St. Francis.

It is a small chapel built in 1457 at the behest of the confraternity of SS. Anthony Abbot and James to enable pilgrims staying at the hostel next door to attend religious ceremonies. The interior is of quadrangular shape with a cross vault ceiling and frescoed walls.
Its frescoes, dated 1477, were by Matteo da Gualdo and Pierantonio Mezzastris from Foligno. The former decorated the façade with the image of Christ Enthroned surrounded by angels and saints, currently in poor condition, with in the lower part Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint James and Saint Christopher to the right of the entrance door. Matteo da Gualdo also frescoed the wall behind the altar with the Virgin holding the Blessing Child seated on a marble throne and surrounded by angels at the centre, St. James the Apostle and St. Anthony Abbot at the sides, and the Annunciation scene at the top.

Pierantonio Mezzastris, in turn, painted the Miracles of St. Anthony Abbot on the left wall, the Miracles of St. James on the right wall and the Doctors of the Church on the vault. On the counter façade, the Eternal in Glory between Saints Anthony Abbot, James and Ansanus can be admired. The name of its author remains uncertain, but some scholars have suggested it could be attributed to an artist who worked with Pietro Vannucci.