Piero Casentini Convento della Santissima Annunziata
This 2012 mural by Piero Casentini presents the Virgin Mary with the saints Anthonio, Clare, Francis and the first Franciscans, all in adoration of the Crucifix. These martyrs were the first to embrace the lives of the minor friars, and they were also the first missionaries sent by Francis of Assisi. The mural is in the Monastery of the Holy Annunziata, in Terni, Italy. Another similar work by Piero Casentini is found in the Church of San Antonio, also located in Terni.
On November first comes the celebration of All the Saints of the Catholic Church. A great opportunity to thank for all the benefits and graces that God has poured out on people who have lived on this earth and who have been like us, with the same weaknesses, and with the strengths that come from God himself.
In this radiant scene, Saint Francis stands among his first companions, all bearing halos — a subtle yet powerful assertion of their sanctity and shared witness. The intimate grouping of figures suggests the early fraternity of the Order of Friars Minor, the humble band whose lives became a living gospel.
What immediately draws the eye is the beautiful color palette: soft, luminous tones of blue and copper gracefully mingle across the composition. The blues evoke a serene sky or divine presence, while the copper‑toned browns and muted ochres ground the scene in the earth to which Francis turned his love. The interplay of these hues imbues the painting with both heavenly aspiration and humble reality.
The copper tints — warm, metallic, slightly reflective — lend a glow to the friars’ habits, halos and surroundings. Meanwhile the blues, cool and contemplative, create depth and highlight the sacred character of the moment. Together the two colours form a harmonious balance: heaven and earth, mission and contemplation, fraternity and solitude.
Every figure in the piece bears a halo, signalling that these are not mere companions but saints; perhaps they are the protomartyrs of the Franciscan order, those first brothers who gave their lives in fidelity. The composition invites us to see them as a community rooted in Francis’s radical gospel call, united not by ambition but by poverty, humility and fraternity.
In their posture and gaze we sense both solidarity and mission: they are gathered together, yet each is poised toward something beyond the frame — the world they were sent to serve. The background remains quietly suggestive, letting the figures and their garments carry the story.
Altogether, the painting is a contemplative hymn in pigment: the living legacy of Francis’s brothers, marked by simplicity, brotherhood and the transcendent. The copper and blue palette does more than decorate — it speaks: of the divine invitation descending into the ordinary, of the luminous call to holiness within everyday life.
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