Saint Francis in Desert. The Ecstasy of St. Francis is a painting by Italian Renaissance master Giovanni Bellini, started in 1475 and completed around 1480.
It is in the Frick Collection in New York City, displayed prominently in what was the living room of Henry Clay Frick, an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. The painting is oil on panel and shows the influence of Andrea Mantegna, who was the painter's brother-in-law.
It is signed IOANNES BELLINVS on a small, creased tag visible in the lower left corner. The painting is now in the Frick Collection and it is considered to be one of its finest assets.
The painting portrays the Italian 12th-century saint Francis of Assisi in an Italian landscape, stepping out in the sun from his cave. Francis lived under poor conditions in the beginning of his sainthood and used to participate in isolated spiritual retreats at monasteries but this painting is most probably a symbolic representation of the saint.
The animals in the picture may represent the saint's love for nature and animals.The Ecstasy of St. Francis is depicting Francis in a religious ecstasy, perhaps receiving the stigmata, as Millard Meiss suggested though, when Francis is receiving the sigmata, usually an angel, a seraph or a crucifix emitting rays is depicted as well. Alternatively, he may be praying or perhaps singing his Canticle of the Sun, as Richard Turner has argued. Whateve
It is in the Frick Collection in New York City, displayed prominently in what was the living room of Henry Clay Frick, an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. The painting is oil on panel and shows the influence of Andrea Mantegna, who was the painter's brother-in-law.
It is signed IOANNES BELLINVS on a small, creased tag visible in the lower left corner. The painting is now in the Frick Collection and it is considered to be one of its finest assets.
The painting portrays the Italian 12th-century saint Francis of Assisi in an Italian landscape, stepping out in the sun from his cave. Francis lived under poor conditions in the beginning of his sainthood and used to participate in isolated spiritual retreats at monasteries but this painting is most probably a symbolic representation of the saint.
The animals in the picture may represent the saint's love for nature and animals.The Ecstasy of St. Francis is depicting Francis in a religious ecstasy, perhaps receiving the stigmata, as Millard Meiss suggested though, when Francis is receiving the sigmata, usually an angel, a seraph or a crucifix emitting rays is depicted as well. Alternatively, he may be praying or perhaps singing his Canticle of the Sun, as Richard Turner has argued. Whateve
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