Saint Francis of Assisi, part of an altarpiece
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
The Vivarini brothers, Bartolomeo and Antonio, were significant figures in Venetian painting of the second half of the fifteenth century. This image was part of a larger polyptych (or multi-panel work) whose other elements have not been identified. Active in the early thirteenth century, Saint Francis made a great contribution not only to the reform of monastic practice, but also to the evolving concept of Christianity as a force for compassion in human life. He is typically shown, as here, with the plain brown robe and bare feet of the mendicant (or almsseeking) friar. Here he also displays, on his hand, foot, and barely visible chest, the marks of the Stigmata, the five wounds of Christ on the Cross, which the saint was said to have received in a moment of mystic revelation.
Caption
Bartolomeo Vivarini (Italian, School of Venice, active 1450–1491). Saint Francis of Assisi, part of an altarpiece, ca. 1460. Tempera and tooled gold on poplar panel, 51 3/8 × 15 1/2 in. (130.5 × 39.4 cm) frame: 58 × 22 1/2 × 4 in. (147.3 × 57.2 × 10.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Frank L. Babbott, 25.56. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Saint Francis of Assisi, part of an altarpiece
Date
ca. 1460
Geography
Place made: Italy
Medium
Tempera and tooled gold on poplar panel
Classification
Dimensions
51 3/8 × 15 1/2 in. (130.5 × 39.4 cm) frame: 58 × 22 1/2 × 4 in. (147.3 × 57.2 × 10.2 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Frank L. Babbott
Accession Number
25.56
Rights
No known copyright restrictions
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