The Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi contains one of the greatest fresco cycles that exists today. Its value lies as much in its history as in the art of the Legend of St. Francis itself. The Legend of St. Francis is a series of twenty-eight separate scenes that adorn the Upper Church of the Basilica. The revolutionary style that is used to portray the life of St. Francis gives it a place in history, but the events and unanswerable questions that surround the execution of this cycle memorialize its significance because subsequent dating and references are all arbitrary and dependent upon this one specific work. An explanation for the importance that this cycle yields needs to be set forth, relying upon certain foundations: 1. The physical structure, 2. The historical dimension, 3. The mention of the structure in this history and literature, and finally 4. The frescoes. Without establishing this system, it would be impossible to consider the magnitude that the Legend of St. Francis bears upon Western Art.