Italian school; XVII century. "St. Francis of Assisi in ecstasy". Oil on copper.

Italian school; XVII century. "St. Francis of Assisi in ecstasy". Oil on copper.

Italian school; XVII century.
"St. Francis of Assisi in ecstasy".
Oil on copper.
It presents faults, restorations, jumps in the painting and in the frame.
It has a frame made c. 1900, following models of the eighteenth century.
Size: 21 x 15,5 cm; 37,5 x 31,5 cm (frame).
In this canvas, of devotional character for its composition, clear and simple, the author offers us an image of Saint Francis of Assisi, dressed with the Franciscan sackcloth, with a cord of three knots tied to the waist that can hardly be appreciated. The three knots represent the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. The saint appears full-length, standing before a landscape of low horizon and clear sky, with his gaze directed towards the sky and open arms, in whose hands the stigmata can be seen. So it is the representation of St. Francis, in ecstasy receiving the stigmata. The story tells how St. Francis, being retired on the mountain, had a vision in which Christ appeared to him, from whose wounds rays emerged and caused the saint stigmata on his hands and feet.
St. Francis (Assisi, Italy, 1182 - 1226) was the son of a wealthy Italian merchant. Baptized as John, he was soon known as "Francesco" (the little Frenchman), because his mother came from that country. His youth was joyful and carefree until the age of twenty-five, when he changed completely and began to dedicate himself to the service of God, practicing the Gospel ideal: purity, detachment and joy in peace. Francesco renounces the great inheritance received from his parents and decides to live poorly, giving an example of authentic Christianity. He soon had several young disciples, called by the saint "order of the Friars Minor". In 1210, Pope Innocent III granted them the foundation of the new order and encouraged them in their evangelical tasks. During a retreat on the mountain, Christ appeared to him, and legend has it that from his wounds came rays that caused Francis various stigmata. He was a legendary character during his lifetime, considered a living relic. Likewise, his exquisite poetry and his familiarity with nature add the most human accent known in a saint, as can be appreciated in his "Canticle to the Sun".