Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata Panel

Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata Panel

Scenes from life of St. Francis of Assisi; a) above, nimbed bearded tonsured St. Francis kneeling on one knee, hands raised at shoulders looking at vision of cross-nimbed bearded crucified Christ within seraph hovering in sky, receiving stigmata from Christ; behind saint, mountain with five foliated trees; two small buildings (chapels?), one above and behind saint, one below and before saint; below, left, Pope Innocent III lying in bed, dreaming of St. Francis supporting toppling Lateran Basilica upon shoulders; below center, Pope Innocent III sitting on throne, surrounded by cardinals, holding document of approval of Franciscan Order in left hand, raising right hand in gesture of blessing; nimbed bearded St. Francis kneeling before Pope with members of Order, receiving approval of Order from hand of Pope; below right, nimbed bearded tonsured St. Francis attended by member of Order, preaching to group of birds standing beneath foliated tree, two birds flying down from tree; b) detail of St. Francis preaching to birds.The life of St. Francis is known to us through his biographer St. Bonaventura. The biography, begun about 1260, was the source for the famous series of Franciscan frescoes in the Upper Church of Assisi, by Giotto. The climax of the legend of St. Francis is his reception of the stigmata. The saint undertook 40 days of fasting and prayer in his mountain retreat. During this time he had a vision of a seraph which filled the sky, two of its wings above the head of the crucified Christ, two of its wings behind the arms of the cross, two of its wings covering the body of Christ from whom St. Francis received the stigmata He is said to have carried the marks to the end of his life indicating spiritual identity with Christ. A doubter is said to have been converted to Christianity by touching the holy marks on the body of the saint at his death. [--Ferguson]The first small scene below shows the dream of Pope Innocent III who had refused to approve the Order of St. Francis because the rules were considered too severe for human strength. In a dream the Pope saw the Lateran Basilica ready to crumble and a poor miserable looking little man supporting it with his shoulders to prevent it from collapsing. Soon after this dream St. Francis received confirmation of the Franciscan Order with permission to preach, shown in the second small scene. The third scene depicts St. Francis preaching to the birds. Near Bevagna the saint came upon a large gathering of birds whom he greeted as if they could understand. At his approach all the birds turned toward him and those in the lower branches lowered their heads and looked toward him. The saint preached to the birds urging them to hear the word of God.

Giotto di Bondone (c.1266-1337)

Paris: Mus. Louvre.

Late 13th Century

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