Italian school; 17th century.

Italian school; XVII century.
"St. Francis receiving the stigmata".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has slight flaws on the pictorial surface and damage to the frame.
Measurements: 167 x 107 cm; 187 x 127 cm (frame).
In this work of devotional character is represented the episode in which San Francisco, being retired in the mountain, had a vision in which Christ appeared to him, of whose wounds rays arose that caused to the saint stigmata in the hands and feet. The scene is placed in the foreground, with the saint in an exaggerated contraposto that adds drama to the scene, dressed in the Franciscan sackcloth and with the Holy Scriptures open next to him. His face in which the artist prints the surprise with great verism is illuminated by the break of Glory in which the figure of Christ is inscribed. The monumentality of the forms and the quality of the drawing that can be appreciated in details such as the folds of the sackcloth at the waist, caused by the rope, added to the expressive naturalism of the scene bring us closer to the aesthetics of the Italian school. The so-called "Stigmatization" took place in September 1224, on Mount Alvernia. St. Francis decided to have a hut built to isolate himself on that mountain, praying, with Friar Leon bringing him bread and water, a brother who witnessed several miracles, including the one recounted in this work. According to the narration of St. Bonaventure, the crucified Nazarene would have appeared to him, surrounded by six angelic wings, imprinting on the saint the signs of the Crucifixion on his hands, feet and side, wounds that he would keep for the rest of his life, trying to hide them from the sight of the people.
St. Francis (Assisi, Italy, 1182 - 1226) was the son of a wealthy Italian merchant. Baptized as John, he soon became 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. 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 seen in his "Canticle to the Sun".