This painting, by the Italian artist Federico Barocci (c. 1535–1612), was inspired by the life of Saint Francis of Assisi (c. 1181-1226). Saint Francis is depicted in the final years of life, long removed from his initial abandonment of his family’s merchant business in the war-torn city-state of Assisi, which he left to pursue a uniquely-crafted lifestyle of poverty and missionary work. In the artwork, over a decade would have passed since Francis’ Franciscan Order was created and given Papal approval around 1210. A thing of the past, too, would have been his early pilgrimages, as well as his tour of the Crusades frontlines near Acre in 1219. Instead, the marks that can be seen on Sant Francis’ hands set the scene of the artwork around 1224, when the saint was said to have experienced a miracle at Mount La Verna, Italy. It was there that Saint Francis’ most famous miraculous episode occurred—his acquisition of the Stigmata, miraculously-appearing marks or wounds that mimic injuries suffered by Jesus during his crucifixion. This incident was described by Saint Francis’ biographers, as well as other texts that described the lives of saints, such as the Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine (c. 13th century). The Golden Legend stated:
“This holy man S. Francis saw in a vision above him, Seraphin crucified, the which emprinted in him the signs of his crucifying, that him seemed that he was crucified, and that in his hands, his feet, and in his side, him seemed were the sign of the wounds of the crucifying, but he did hide these tokens as much as he might, that no man should see them. And yet nevertheless some saw them in his life, and at his death they were seen of many, and were showed by many miracles that those signs were true” (Jacobus de Voragine, Golden Legend, 5.31).
Those miraculous marks that Saint Francis reportedly received at La Verna in 1224 were the Stigamata—which went on to become one of the most famous perceived signs of sainthood. Ironically for the saint, the Stigmata did not bring him good health or other earthly blessings. Instead, not long after the strange marks appeared, Saint Francis fell extremely ill and went blind by 1225. His health continued to steadily deteriorate, despite receiving some of the most cutting-edge medical treatments of the time, until his death in 1226 at the young age of forty-five. As the Golden Legend reported, the Stigmata marks were still present and visible on his body after he died. Given this fate, the dark and gloomy paint colors chosen by Federico Barocci seem fitting for his depiction of Saint Francis and his Stigmata.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine, translated by William Caxton (c. 1422-1491), and reprinted unabridged and in seven volumes by SSEL (2022).
- Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Fifth Edition) by David Farmer. Oxford University Press, 2011.
- https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/goldenlegend/goldenlegend-volume5.asp#Francis
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Francis-of-Assisi
- https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/438688
