The Basilica of San Francesco in Arezzo was built by the Franciscans as their second church in the city. Fra Giovanni da Pistoia was the architect, and construction began around 1290. The interior is simple, with a single wide nave, a square groin-vaulted chancel, and a lower church that is now an exhibition hall. The planned decoration of the facade was never carried out.
The church is famous for the fresco cycle on the Legend of the True Cross in the chancel. The Aretine Bicci family commissioned the paintings. Bicci di Lorenzo left the vault partly painted when he died in 1452. Piero della Francesca completed the work in two stages, which were halted in 1458 and 1459 and finished in 1466.
The scenes are based on the Golden Legend and are arranged on three levels in symmetrical pairs rather than in chronological order.
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