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| Cosme Tura, The Stigmatization of Saint Francis Italian, c. 1470s Washington, National Gallery of Art, Rosenwald Collection |
One of the most difficult, if not THE most difficult of all saints to discuss from an iconographic point of view is that great favorite of nearly everyone who has ever heard of him, Saint Francis of Assisi. Whether the image that most people have of him is derived from movies or holy cards or books, everyone is bound to have an image in their heads of what he looks like and who he is. It doesn’t matter very much if you are a devout Catholic or an evangelical Protestant or even a neo-pagan or a Buddhist, everyone knows or thinks that they know Saint Francis. And Francis has been much in the forefront of culture over the last two decades due to the fact that the most recently deceased pope was the first to take his papal name from him and to assert Saint Francis as a model for his own actions. It is this very ubiquitousness of Saint Francis that makes it difficult to write about his iconography because he has been equally popular from his own lifetime till today and there is so much to choose from!
The images of Saint Francis are staggering both in
quantity and in the variety of ways in which they depict the saint. Virtually every moment of the life of Francesco
Bernardone has been depicted, the real ones as well as the legendary ones, and
in addition there are imaginings of his afterlife, and especially imaginings of
significant mystical experiences that he had, both alive and dead. Collecting these images is time-consuming and
never in a single year have I been able to feel confident that I have found all
that there is. In searching I have
restricted myself mostly to paintings, ignoring the thousands of images of the
saint found in prints, drawings, textiles, ceramics and other sculptural media. Even with these restrictions I have managed
to come up with more material than I can incorporate into a brief internet essay. Five years ago, I decided to restrict myself
to depictions of his death and funeral.
This year I have decided to restrict myself to depictions of the most
famous mystical event in his life, the receipt of the Stigmata. This is the sign of the Passion of Christ, the
five wounds, which appear on the body of an especially holy individual. Beginning with Saint Francis, it has been bestowed
on very few people in history. It is a
rare and mysterious sign of their union with the sufferings of Christ.
The bestowal of these marks of the Passion is a
mysterious event, but, in this case, their bestowal was witnessed. In the late summer of 1224 Saint Francis had retreated
to a location in the mountains, Mount La Verna, with some of his followers. Among his companions was Brother Leo, his
secretary. Bother Leo recorded the event
in a manuscript that still exists at Assisi today. It was later incorporated into the book
called the Fioretti or in English The Little Flowers of
Saint Francis, full of multiple stories, some real and some imagined,
about the lives of Saint Francis and his early followers. It is believed to have been completed in the
late 14th century, about 100-150 years after Francis’ life.
From the Fioretti
“We are come now to the third consideration, namely, of
the seraphical apparition, and the impression of the sacred, holy stigmata.
As the Feast of the Holy Cross then drew nigh, in the
month of September, Brother Leo went one night at his accustomed hour to say
Matins with St Francis…(material omitted by me)...
The day before the Feast of the most Holy Cross, as St
Francis was praying secretly in his cell, an angel of God appeared to him, and
spake to him thus from God: “I am come to admonish and encourage thee, that
thou prepare thyself to receive in all patience and humility that which God
will give and do to thee.”
St Francis replied: “I am ready to bear patiently
whatsoever my Lord shall be pleased to do to me”; and so the angel departed. On
the following day - being the Feast of the Holy Cross - St Francis was praying
before daybreak at the entrance of his cell, and turning his face towards the
east, he prayed in these words: “O Lord Jesus Christ, two graces do I ask of
thee before I die; the first, that in my lifetime I may feel, as far as
possible, both in my soul and body, that pain which thou, sweet Lord, didst endure
in the hour of thy most bitter Passion; the second, that I may feel in my heart
as much as possible of that excess of love by which thou, O Son of God, wast
inflamed to suffer so cruel a Passion for us sinners.” And continuing a long
time in that prayer, he understood that God had heard him, and that, so far as
is possible for a mere creature, he should be permitted to feel these things.
Having then received this promise, St Francis began to
contemplate most devoutly the Passion of Jesus Christ and his infinite charity;
and so greatly did the fervour of devotion increase within him, that he was all
transformed into Jesus by love and compassion.
And being thus inflamed in that contemplation, on that
same morning he beheld a seraph descending from heaven with six fiery and
resplendent wings; and this seraph with rapid flight drew nigh unto St Francis,
so that he could plainly discern him, and perceive that he bore the image of
one crucified; and the wings were so disposed, that two were spread over the
head, two were outstretched in flight, and the other two covered the whole
body. And when St Francis beheld it, he was much afraid, and filled at once
with joy and grief and wonder. He felt great joy at the gracious presence of
Christ, who appeared to him thus familiarly, and looked upon him thus lovingly,
but, on the other hand, beholding him thus crucified, he felt exceeding grief
and compassion. He marvelled much at so stupendous and unwonted a vision,
knowing well that the infirmity of the Passion accorded ill with the
immortality of the seraphic spirit. And in that perplexity of mind it was
revealed to him by him who thus appeared, that by divine providence this vision
had been thus shown to him that he might understand that, not by martyrdom of
the body, but by a consuming fire of the soul, he was to be transformed into
the express image of Christ crucified in that wonderful apparition. Then did all
the Mount Alvernia appear wrapped in intense fire, which illumined all the
mountains and valleys around, as it were the sun shining in his strength upon
the earth, for which cause the shepherds who were watching their flocks in that
country were filled with fear, as they themselves afterwards told the brethren,
affirming that this light had been visible on Mount Alvernia for upwards of an
hour. And because of the brightness of that light, which shone through the
windows of the inn where they were tarrying, some muleteers who were travelling
in Romagna arose in haste, supposing that the sun had risen, and saddled and
loaded their beasts; but as they journeyed on, they saw that light disappear,
and the visible sun arise.
In this seraphical apparition, Christ, who appeared under
that form to St Francis, spoke to him certain high and secret things, which in
his lifetime he would never reveal to any person, but after his death he made
them known to one of the brethren, and the words were these: “Knowest thou,”
said Christ, ”what I have done to thee? I have given thee the stigmata which
are the insignia of my Passion, that thou mayest be my standard-bearer; and as
on the day of my death I descended into limbo, and by virtue of these my
stigmata delivered thence all the souls whom I found there, so do I grant to
thee that every year on the anniversary of thy death thou mayst go to
Purgatory, and take with thee to the glory of Paradise all the souls of thy
three Orders, the Friars Minor, the Sisters, and the Penitents, and likewise
all others whom thou shalt find there, who have been especially devout to thee;
that so thou mayst be conformed to me in death, as thou hast been like to me in
life.” Then, after long and secret conference together, that marvellous
vision disappeared, leaving in the heart of St Francis an excessive fire and
ardour of divine love, and on his flesh a wonderful trace and image of the
Passion of Christ. For upon his hands and feet began immediately to appear
the figures of the nails, as he had seen them on the Body of Christ crucified,
who had appeared to him in the likeness of a seraph. And thus the hands and
feet appeared pierced through the midst by the nails, the heads whereof were
seen outside the flesh in the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet, and
the points of the nails stood out at the back of the hands, and the feet in
such wise that they appeared to be twisted and bent back upon themselves,
and the portion thereof that was bent back upon themselves, and the portion
thereof that was bent back or twisted stood out free from the flesh, so that
one could put a finger through the same as through a ring; and the heads of the
nails were round and black. In like manner, on the right side appeared the
image of an unhealed wound, as if made by a lance, and still red and bleeding,
from which drops of blood often flowed from the holy breast of St Francis,
staining his tunic and his drawers.
And because of this his companions, before they knew the
truth from himself, perceiving that he would not uncover his hands and his
feet, and that he could not set the soles of his feet upon the ground, and
finding traces of blood upon his tunic when they washed it, understood of a
certainty that he bore in his hands and feet and side the image and similitude
of our Lord Jesus Christ crucified. And although he laboured hard to conceal
these sacred stigmata holy and glorious, thus clearly impressed upon his flesh,
yet finding that he could with difficulty hide them from his familiar
companions, and fearing at the same time to reveal the secrets of God, he was
in great doubt and trouble of mind whether or not he should make known the
seraphical vision and the impression of the sacred, holy stigmata. At last,
being pricked in conscience, he called together certain of the brethren, in
whom he placed the greatest confidence, and proposing to them his doubt in
general terms, asked their counsel on the matter. Now among these friars there
was one of great sanctity, called Brother Illuminato; and he, being truly
illuminated by God, understood that St Francis must have seen something
miraculous, and said thus to him: “Know, Brother Francis, that not for thyself
alone, but for others, doth God reveal to thee his secrets, and therefore thou
hast cause for fear lest thou be worthy of censure if thou conceal that which,
for the good of others, has been made known to thee.”
Then St Francis, being moved by these words, with great
fear and reverence told them the manner of the aforesaid vision, adding that
Christ, who had thus appeared to him, had said to him certain things which he
might never make known so long as he should live.
Now although these sacred wounds, which had been
impressed upon him by Christ, gave great joy to his heart, yet they caused
unspeakable pain to his body; so that, being constrained by necessity, he made
choice of Brother Leo, for his great purity and simplicity, to whom he revealed
the whole matter, suffering him to touch and dress his wounds on all days
except during the time from Thursday evening till Saturday morning, for then he
would not by any human remedy mitigate the pain of Christ’s Passion, which he
bore in his body, because at that time our Saviour Jesus Christ was taken and
crucified, died and was buried for us. And it came to pass sometimes that when
Brother Leo was removing the bandage from the wound in the side, St Francis,
because of the pain caused thereby, would lay his hand on Brother Leo’s breast,
and at the touch of that holy hand Brother Leo felt such sweetness of devotion
as well-nigh made him to fall fainting to the ground.”1
These events described occurred in September 1224. Saint Francis died on October 3, 1226,
slightly over two years later. Although he
had hoped to keep the stigmata secret, it was an unprecedented experience and proved
impossible to control gossip about it.
This is attested to by two things.
The first is the number of depictions of a scene from the funeral
procession of the saint in which the secular authorities examined the body to
search for the marks (and apparently found them)2 and by the small
but important number of artifacts that depict the event in this early period. The interesting point about these images is
how closely they adhere to the description of the scene attributed to Brother
Leo. One even includes him, crouching in
a corner.
,%20c.%201225-1300_Paris,%20Mus%C3%A9e%20de%20Cluny,%20Mus%C3%A9e%20National%20du%20Moyen%20%C3%82ge.jpg) |
| Enamel Reliquary of Saint Francis French (Limoges), c. 1225-1300 Paris, Musée de Cluny, Musée National du Moyen Âge This is the earliest image of the Stigmatization of Saint Francis that I could find. It dates to the decades following Francis' death in 1226 and presumably was made for a relic of the saint and could, potentially, have been seen and used by persons who had actually met him. |
Giotto and Workshop, The Stigmatization of Saint Francis
Italian, c. 1297-1300
Assisi, Basilica of San Francesco, Upper Church
The canonization and the work of Giotto and his team at Assisi truly opened the floodgates for images and they came flooding through.
Morse with Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata
Italian, c. 1300-1350
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Department of Medieval Art
School of Giotto, Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata
Italian, c. 1300-1325
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Peintures
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Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
From a Meditationes Vitae Christi
Italian (Sienna), c. 1330-1340
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Italien 115, fol. 2v
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Giovanni di Benedetto & Workshop, The Stigmatization of Saint Francis
From a Book of Hours
Italian (Milan), c. 1385-1390
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 757, fol. 360v
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The Stigmatization of Saint Francis
From a Life of Saint Francis
French (North), c. 14th-15th Centuries
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS 2093, fol. 74r
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The Master of the Cite des Dames, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
_From a Le Miroir Historial by Vincent of Beauvais
French (Paris), c. 1400-1410
The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek
MS KB 72 A 24, fol. 326v
This image is unusual in that it depicts the event of the Stigmatization as taking place within a house, with Saint Francis lying asleep on a bed. It appears that the painter either did not know the story or deliberately suppressed the usual details.
Pesellino, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
Italian, c. 1400-1450
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Peintures
Lorenzo Monaco, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
Italian, c. 1420s
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
The Master of Staffolo, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
Italian, c. 1420
Philadelphia, Museum of Art
Jan van Eyck, Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata
Flemish, c. 1430-1432
Philadelphia, Museum of Art
Sassetta, The Stigmatization of Saint Francis
From the San Sepolchro Altarpiece
Italian, c. 1434-1444
London, National Gallery
Fra Angelico, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
From a Pradella
Italian, c.. 1440
Vatican City, Vatican Museums, Pinacoteca Vaticana
,%20c.%201445-1460_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Latin%209473,%20fol.%20170v%20detail.jpg)
Guglielmo Girardi, The Stigmatization of Saint Francis
From the Hours of Louis of Savoy
French (Savoy), c. 1445-1460
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 9473, fol. 170v
Domenico Veneziano, Saint Francis Receives the Stigmata
Italian, c. 1445-1450
Washington, National Gallery of Art, Samuel H. Kress Collection
,%20c.%201450-1500_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Francais%20298,%20fol.%20147v.jpg)
The Stigmatization of Saint Francis
From a Fleur des histoires by Jean Mansel
Flemish (Bruges), c. 1450-1500
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 298, fol. 147v
Giovanni di Paolo, The Stigmatization of Saint Francis
From an Antiphonary
Italian, c. 1450
Budapest, National Szechenyi Library
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Lo Spagna (Giovanni di Pietro), Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
Italian, c. 1450-1528
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Peintures
Benozzo Gozzoli, Scenes from the Life of Saint Francis, Saint Francis Receives the Stigmata
Italian, c. 1452
Montefalco, Church of San Francesco, Apsidal Chapel
Giovanni Bellini, Saint Francis in the Desert
Italian, c. 1475-1480
New York, The Frick Collection
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Francois le Babier the Younger, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
From a Legenda aurea by Jacobus de Voragine
French (Paris), c. 1480-1490
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 245, fol. 124v
Matteo da Gualdo, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
Italian, 1491
Gualdo Tadino, Church of San Francesco
As time wore on and artistic abilities developed more
sophistication and greater expertise, the setting of the Stigmatization became more
elaborate and realistic. However, the
basic elements of the scene remain:
Francis, the mountain setting and the seraph in the form of a crucifix. Brother Leo is usually also depicted and
sometimes there are buildings shown as well.
The Circle of Antoniazzo Romano, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
Italian, c. 1500
Vatican City, Vatican Museums, Pinacoteca Vaticana
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Jean Bourdichon, The Stigmatization of Saint Francis
From the Hours of Frederic of Aragon
French (Tours), c. 1501-1502
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 10532, fol. 370
Albrecht Altdorfer, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
German, 1507
Berlin, Gemaeldegalerie der Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
The Master of Hoogstraten, Saint Francis of Assisi receiving the Stigmata
Flemish, c. 1510
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado
Joos van Cleve, The Stigmatization of Saint Francis
Upper portion of an altarpiece
Flemish, c. 1520-1525
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Peintures
,%20c.%201520_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20NAL%203253,%20fol.%2064v.jpg)
The Master of the Ango Hours, The Stigmatization of Saint Francis
From a Prayer Book
French (Rouen), c. 1520
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS NAL 3253, fol. 64v
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Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
From the Heures d'Antoine le Bon, Duke of Lorraine
French (Lorraine), 1533
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS NAL 302, fol. 80v
Domenico Beccafumi, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
Italian, 1537
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Peintures
Agnolo Bronzino, Ceiling including the Stigmatization of Saint Francis
Italian, c. 1541
Florence, Palazzo Vecchio, Cappella di Eleonora di Toledo
Antonio Campi, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
Italian, c. 1560-1570
Vatican City,Vatican Museums, Pinacoteca Vaticana
El Greco, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
Greco-Spanish, c. 1585-1590
Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum
Federico Barocci, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
Italian, c. 1594-1599
Vatican City, Vatican Museums, Pinacoteca Vaticana
Il Cigoli, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
Italian, 1595
Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi
Frans Pourbus the Younger, Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata
Flemish, 1620
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Peintures
Frederic Brentel, Saint Francis Receives the Stigmata
From the Hours de Guillaume de Bade
French, 1647
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 10567, p. 433
Laurent de La Hyre, A Landscape with the Stigmatization of Saint Francis
French, c. 1650-1656
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Peintures
Alonso Cano, Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
Spanish, c. 1651
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado
Jose del Castillo, The Stigmatization of Saint Francis
Spanish, c. 1750-1800
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado
After 1600 a new theme began to appear, that of angelic comforters. This is not something that was included in the earlier stories or pictures and seems to be an invention of the later era. The saint is shown as having collapsed after receiving the stigmata, from the intensity of the experience. Brother Leo has been replaced by an angel or group of angels who minister to the prostrate figure of the saint. The inspiration behind this image is likely that of Christ following his forty-day fast and encounter with Satan at the Temptation and represents an expansion by later followers of the original idea of participating in Christ's sufferings. It appears that they have moved toward identifying Saint Francis with additional events in the life of Christ.
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| Orazio Gentileschi, Saint Francis Supported by an Angel Italian, c. 1607 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
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| Geerart Seghers, Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy Comforted by Angels After His Stigmatization Flemish, c. 1620-1624 Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Peintures |
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| Govanni Battista Tiepolo, Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata Italian, c. 1767-1769 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
Still, it is remarkable that, over hundreds of years, the image of this event in the life of Saint Francis has continued to appear in much the same manner as it was in the years that followed immediately upon its occurrence.
©
M. Duffy, 2025
1. 1. Hudlestone,
Dom Roger, with an Introduction by Arthur Livingstone. The Little Flowers of Saint Francis, New
York, The Heritage Press. Christian
Classics Ethereal Library, https://ccel.org/ccel/ugolino/flowers/flowers. The original was probably compiled during the
later 13th Century and completed during the early 14th.
1. 2. See
several depictions of this phase of the funeral at "The Death of Saint Francis" https://imaginemdei.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-death-of-saint-francis.html
