This essay focuses on Damisch’s analysis of the fresco cycle The Life of St. Francis in the upper church of San Francesco at Assisi. A notable point in Damisch’s treatise is its structure, which is rather fragmental compared to common argumentations. Damisch’s analysis consists of five sections, respectively: the proposition of “painting as an instrument,” discussions on the composition, on the intanaco, an analysis of the usage of “gesture,” and discussions on “style.” The first section concerns the establishment of the semiotic theory framework. The following three parts assess the elements in the frescoes, specifically their function. As for the fifth section, the inquiry of the stylistic aspect does not simply provide a conclusion to the semiotic study. Instead, it applies the discoveries from previous investigations to reconstruct the focusing point of analysis of paintings. The main discovery of this study is that the analysis of the Assisi cycle exemplifies “syntax” in Damisch’s Semiology of Art, yet not by being a static compositional scheme, a code, but by being the manifestation of a process of mise-en-scene.