Around 1635, Spanish artist Francisco de Zurbarán painted “Saint Francis in Meditation,” a striking life-size portrait of Francis kneeling in prayer and gazing up to God in adoration.
Zurbarán made Francis’s faith palpable by painting Francis the man, without the fanfare of his miracles. Francis wears the habit worn by the friars of the Capuchin order of Franciscans. His habit is well worn, and patched up. He’s tied three knots in his belt to represent poverty, chastity, and obedience. (Two knots are seen in the painting.) He holds a skull, symbolizing the impermanence of life and Christ’s crucifixion (a motif that El Greco first introduced to Spanish paintings of St. Francis).
The painting’s dark background reflects Francis’s ascetic life. We can almost smell the stale air. We can feel the hard stone floor he kneels upon, and the rough woolen cloth of his habit scratching against his skin.
Zurbarán used Francis’s emotions to pull us into his world and made sure that the light shone on Francis’s hands in prayer and his ecstatic facial expression.
Experts believe that Zurbarán may have created the painting for a door, a window, a private cell, or a chapel. His painting shows us the spirit of prayer and devotion, which Francis believed most important. As Francis’s work spread, he issued a warning to Franciscan orders that may have overemphasized theology; he encouraged members to study, but to never “extinguish the Spirit of prayer and devotion.”
The National Gallery, London owns Zurbarán’s “Saint Francis in Meditation,” and until July 30, it’s part of the gallery’s recently opened “Saint Francis of Assisi” exhibition, which explores the saint’s life and legacy through art. Over 40 artworks from the 13th century to the present day are on display, from European and American public and private collections.
One of the remarkable objects on display is a piece of Francis’s habit, kept in a Baroque gilt frame. Franciscan brothers took vows of poverty, and the habit is one of its most visible signs. Experts found that some parts of Francis’s other habits were patched up by St. Clare, who led the women’s Franciscan order of the Poor Clares.
A Universal Saint
Around 1181, Francesco di Pietro di Bernardone (Francis) was born in Assisi to a wealthy silk merchant. Francis served as a soldier, spent time as a prisoner of war, and suffered a long-term illness. In his 20s, he committed himself to God, taking a vow of poverty and forming the Franciscan religious order (Friars Minor). His friars spread the order throughout Europe, and in 1219 he preached to the Sultan of Egypt. Francis is remembered throughout the world for his love of nature, his devoutness, and his many miracles.
St. Francis led by example. “His character stood out by virtue of its many contrasts. His piety, at once solitary and popular, his character, at once sweet and austere, his appearance, at once humble and striking, have remained unforgettable,” wrote literary critic Erich Auerbach, as cited in the exhibition book.
Sacred Art
Artists have portrayed St. Francis of Assisi more than any other saint, except for New Testament saints. In the century after his death, some 20,000 images of Francis may have been created, an estimate that doesn’t include illuminated manuscripts.Medieval artists depicted St. Francis’s miracles during his life and after his death that confirmed his sainthood. A vita-retable (a panel showing a central figure flanked by episodes of that person’s life) made around 1253, titled “Saint Francis and Four Posthumous Miracles,” demonstrates this well. Standing in the center, St. Francis looks like a Byzantine saint as he’s flanked by images of his posthumous miracles.
Later, Counter-Reformation artists focused on St. Francis’s faith and spirituality, especially depicting him rapt in ecstasy, such as seen in Zurbarán’s “Saint Francis in Meditation.”
But the exhibition also includes modern art that embraces abstract ideas that often need explaining. Some of those artworks show dark episodes of Francis’s life without hope, and which might undermine the saint’s mission.
Surrendering to God’s Will
A couple of Northern Renaissance paintings in the exhibition show Francis receiving the stigmata when he prayed at La Verna, an isolated retreat on Mount Verna, in northern Italy. Around 1507, Albrecht Altdorfer chose a palette of muted earth tones for his painting “Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata.” In the painting, he seems to almost disappear into the landscape, perhaps alluding to how Francis saw himself as one of God’s many creations.
Looking at Altdorfer’s painting, we can almost feel a gentle breeze carrying the fresh scent from the beech tree forest nearby and see birds playing overhead, singing as if to praise the sunshine. Brother Francis had meditated there many times before. But that day was different. The awestruck brother couldn’t believe his eyes. He saw a vision of God high in the heavens as a six-winged seraph, which is an angelic being in direct communication with God. The seraph placed its wings in a cross: It raised two wings, readied two wings for flight, and wrapped the other two wings around its body.
Altdorfer depicted Francis’s faith as the saint held his palms outward, surrendering to receive the stigmata, the five wounds mirroring the wounds of Christ’s crucifixion. The artist used lines that look like conduits from heaven to show that the wounds were ordained directly by God.
A century after Altdorfer’s piece, in 1620, Frans Pourbus the Younger’s painting titled “Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata” showed the legend unfolding like a storybook. In the background, Francis is seen just after the seraph appeared to him. He’s awestruck to such an extent that he has fallen to the ground. He shields his eyes from the divine light that falls from the seraph in heaven. In the foreground, we can see Francis rapt in ecstasy, receiving the stigmata.
There are no lines from heaven, as in Altdorfer’s painting. Instead, Pourbus the Younger uses the light to softly bring our attention to Francis’s hands as he shows us the wounds on his palms.
Guiding Souls to Heaven
Biographer and theologian Donald Spoto wrote in his book “Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi” that “throughout the Middle Ages, birds were often used to represent souls, because they can fly up to God.”In the exhibition, we can see how artists showed Francis preaching to birds. St. Francis loved all of God’s creations, and he guided them to love their creator. “He came upon a large flock of birds and spoke to them as though they were rational beings, saying: ‘My brother birds, you owe a great debt of praise to your Creator, who clothes you with feathers, gives you wings to fly with, grants you the purity of the air, and without effort on your part he sustains you,’” wrote chronicler and archbishop of Genoa Jacobus de Voragine in the popular medieval religious text “The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints.” Having captured the birds’ attention, Francis preached to them, sending them on their way when he finished.
We can also see Francis and the birds centuries later in English artist Frank Cadogan Cowper’s 1904 painting titled “St. Francis of Assisi and the Heavenly Melody.” Cowper’s painting retells a miraculous event near the end of Francis’s life. Francis asked one of the brothers to play the lute for him, but the brother believed that it went against the order’s vows. Heaven stepped in and provided the solace Francis sought when an angel appeared and played a melody for him. Cowper painted Francis surrounded by birds and comforted by the angel’s melody.
Spoto ended his biography: “In describing his last moments, Francis’s friends never forgot one detail: ‘Many birds, called larks, flew low above the roof of the house where he lay, wheeling in a circle and singing.’”
“The Saint Francis of Assisi exhibition” at The National Gallery, London runs until July 30. To find out more, visit NationalGallery.org.uk
