Copy after the cycle of the <i>Life of St Francis</i> (north wall section), Benozzo Gozzoli in San Francesco, apsidal chapel, Montefalco

Fattorini rendered the fresco’s composition in watercolor, translating the original tempera and fresco pigments into a translucent medium. His approach retains the vivid coloration and delicate detailing of Gozzoli’s work while adapting the scale and texture for a paper support.

The watercolor was commissioned by the Arundel Society, an organization founded in 1848 to disseminate reproductions of European Old Master paintings. Although the Society intended to publish the Montefalco series, the four copies (catalogued as E.153‑E.156) were never released, remaining in museum collections.

Benozzo Gozzoli’s fresco cycle was created during the mid‑15th century, a period of flourishing religious art in Umbria. The cycle’s narrative functioned as a visual sermon for the monastic community, aligning with contemporary devotional practices.

Fattorini’s watercolor serves as a documented link between 15th‑century fresco technique and 19th‑century efforts to preserve and study such works. It illustrates the 19th‑century scholarly interest in reproducing and circulating images of medieval and Renaissance art for broader audiences.