Skip Navigation

Saint Francis of Assisi, part of an altarpiece

Bartolomeo Vivarini

European Art

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.
MEDIUM Tempera and tooled gold on poplar panel
  • Place Made: Italy
  • DATES ca. 1460
    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)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS European Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 25.56
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Frank L. Babbott
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    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). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Frank L. Babbott, 25.56 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 25.56_print_bw.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 25.56_print_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT No known copyright restrictions
    This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement. You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.