Brother Constantine arrived in July 1947 at the Franciscan friary in Busto Arsizio, a student house where the young friars, after a classical and philosophical education at the high school in Sabbioncello, began their theological education. In 1948 he made his solemn profession and became a Franciscan friar.
Together with the brothers, he visited the frescoes of Castelseprio on 28 February 1949 and the Sacro Monte of Varese on 21 April.
With the wonderful works he had admired in his eyes and heart, he felt inspired to execute frescoes in the convent of Busto Arsizio depicting the life of Saint Francis. In consonance with the artists who had painted the works on the Sacro Monte of Orta, he wished to interpret episodes from the life of the Saint of Assisi in contemporary language. Among the episodes painted in fresco are reproduced here some set with completely original features in a hypothetical city of the last century.
During the three years he lived in Busto, Brother Constantine had in his heart the tragic nature of the war and the yearning for hope of the first post-war years, marked by the toil of reconstruction in a poor environment but eager for regeneration.
Clear references to metaphysical paintings by De Chirico, Carrà and Sironi appear in the depicted image: 1950s urban suburban houses, industrial districts and a mountain topped by a looming cloud in the background.
In the foreground, a friar, Brother Francis, carries a suffering man on his shoulders, a clear metaphor for post-war man deprived of all livelihood and in need of care.
In the central panel, some friars observe a group of figures presenting a naked man begging for mercy with his gaze turned to heaven. It is from there that salvation comes.
The surroundings reproduce a city space proposed in a contemporary language, strong lines and neutral colours.
In the centre is a house with a wall without doors and windows as if to symbolise the need to overcome incommunicability, to ensure a dialogue leading to fraternal communion.
The third panel depicts St Francis with the brothers distributing to the poor.
