[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 137 (Monday, October 6, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S10409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    PROVIDING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO AID IN THE RESTORATION OF THE 
                   BASILICA OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, on September 24 and 25, Umbria, Italy, 
that community, was hit by twin earthquakes. Extensive damage was 
inflicted upon the towns and villages across the region. Eleven people 
lost their lives and thousands of homes and buildings have been 
damaged.

  The Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi was one of the buildings that 
was severely damaged. It isn't just a church or a great center of 
pilgrimage, or an artistic archive and yet it is all of those things.
  It is one of those special places that you visit one day, but long to 
return to for a lifetime if you are fortunate enough to get to Italy 
and to set about to see some very, very historic buildings with culture 
and with religion that just wreaks from the walls.
  That is why I was profoundly saddened to learn that the basilica was 
severely damaged by the earthquakes of September 24 and September 25, 
and again last week.
  It seems so ironic that the basilica, built in honor of the patron 
Saint of Italy who cherished the natural world, was ravaged by an act 
of nature.
  The basilica is one of the finest examples of Italian Gothic 
architecture, a building of ``unparalleled importance in the evolution 
of Italian art.'' It has been written, by those more knowledgeable 
about art and architecture than I am and will ever be, that ``a 
harmonious relationship exists between the architecture and its fresco 
decoration.'' ``The strong and simple forms are repeated throughout the 
building both to unify and to articulate the space with so powerful an 
effect that the architectural members are echoed in the painted 
framework to the frescos.''
  The basilica is a living museum providing a home for the art of 
several great masters of the 13th and 14th centuries. These art 
treasures depict scenes from the Old and New Testaments.
  The famous fresco artist, Cimabue, began his work in the basilica, 
believe it or not, in 1277. Cimabue's frescos include scenes from the 
life of the Virgin, popes, angels, and saints, as well as scenes of the 
Apocalypse and the Crucifixion.
  Cimabue's pupil, Giotto, painted 28 famous, and beautiful frescos 
based on St. Bonaventure's version of St. Francis' life, and major 
accomplishments. These famous Giotto frescos painted on the sidewalls 
of the basilica were cracked by the earthquake but are miraculously 
somewhat in tact. These frescos are world treasurers. So that my 
colleagues understand, let me make this comparison. Giotto was to the 
basilica what Brumidi was to our own beautiful Capitol.
  Mobilization of Italian artists and restorers has been swift. In 
addition, the National Museum in London and the Louvre have offered 
experts to help with the restoration.
  The sense-of-the-Senate resolution calls upon the Smithsonian, the 
National Gallery of Art, and any of the other premier art museums in 
the United States that have the pertinent expertise to provide 
technical assistance to aid in the restoration of the Basilica of St. 
Francis of Assisi and the works of art that have been damaged in the 
earthquake.
  I want to indicate to the Senate I will send to the desk to be 
considered in wrapup a resolution--just by the Senate; we are not going 
to try to go to the House--just a sense-of-the-Senate resolution that 
states the facts regarding this disaster, and merely says that the 
Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art and any of the 
other premier art museums of the United States having pertinent 
expertise in restoration should provide technical assistance to aid in 
the restoration of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi and the works 
of art that have been damaged in the earthquake. That is essentially 
what it is.

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