SAINT BENEDICT SENDS SAINT MAURO TO FRANCE TO TEACH THE HOLY RULE

Giovanni Fiamingo was the name the painter Jan Schepers went by in Italy. Born in Antwerp, he was in Perugia from at least 1579, the year he became a citizen. He was primarily a landscape artist (for example, the four large scenes in the Sala Rossa of the Palazzo dei Priori), and worked on the frescoes in San Pietro, beginning in 1592. He was frequently assisted by Scilla Piccinini, a ‘figurista’ (specialist in adding human figures to landscapes) from Perugia. The monks paid Fiamingo for “painting the façade above the arch of the Church” and a “painting near the sacristy” of a miracle of St. Benedict. This painting, now in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, but originally in the monastery refectory, presents a clear view of the Abbey of Montecassino in the landscaped background.