St. Francis before the Sultan of Egypt
This is the last chapel completed in 1757. It was financed by the Portuguese Bernardo Mina. It contains a group of terracotta statues by Carlo Beretta, a sculptor who also worked at the Milan Cathedral and in Novara, where he created the reliefs of the high altar for the Basilica of St. Gaudentius. The statues tell the story of Saint Francis preaching to the sultan Al-Malik al-Kamil, who, instead of executing him, listens to him interested. Then, the saint, in order to prove what true religion is, proposes to light a fire and walk into it with the other priests, but the pagan priest escapes. Francis refuses gold and gifts and the sultan allows him the freedom to preach. Finally, Francis appears to two friars and orders them to go and baptize the dying sultan. The frescoes, in a marked Rococò style, are by Federico Ferrari.