St. Francis in Ecstasy (Bellini)

15th century painting

St. Francis in Ecstasy

Artist| Giovanni Bellini
Year| c. 1480
Medium| Oil on panel
Dimensions| 124.6 cm × 142 cm (49.1 in × 56 in)
Location| Frick Collection, New York

St. Francis in Ecstasy (or St. Francis in the Desert) is a painting by Italian Renaissance master Giovanni Bellini, started in 1475 and completed around 1480. Bellini depicted the religious figure of St. Francis of Assisi in a landscape.[1] In 1852, the painting was listed on June 19 at Christie's. It was part of the 1857 Manchester Art Treasures exhibition. In 1915, Henry Clay Frick bought the painting for $170,000,[2] and it remains in the Frick Collection, in New York City.

## Subject

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The painting portrays Francis of Assisi, the Italian saint of the early 13th century, in an Italian landscape, stepping out in the sun from his cave, his figure anchoring the creamy celadon and golden-green landscape. The oil painting by Bellini has a length of approximately four feet with a width of around four and a half feet, depicting a natural, but dramatic scene. This painting includes one of the largest and most extensive Renaissance landscapes.[3]

## Description

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The painting contains a strong effect of mystical light through the use of golden rays coming from the uppermost left corner of the painting, showering over Saint Francis. The tones of brown and gold are used to illustrate the body, and a rocky niche is depicted in the shady portion. His brighter body contrasts with the darker environment of the painting. In the foreground, the focus is on a stony, dangerous, dark, and mossy cave with a shady entrance covered by twisted grapevines. Inside the cave, several possessions of the saint are represented, including a Holy Book, desk, hermit's skull, a thorny crown, and a crucifix made of stems. Although the scene is rocky, it does not look infertile.[4] In the center and the background of this painting is a walled hill with growing fields, a bridge over a running waterway, a coastal bird similar to a gray heron, a donkey, as well as a shepherd looking at his flock grazing. The landscape depicts a transformation into spring through the inclusion of growing grass.[4]

In the painting, the sky is dynamic, sparkling, and bright blue. From the uppermost left edge, the light is falling, making its way inside the scenery. There is an illuminated feel arising from the whole painting, and a sense of rays originating from stones and green fields, making it seem as if, through the holiness of St. Francis, the world is being illuminated. The painting depicts St. Francis having come out of his cave in a brown traditional robe, standing barefooted, looking upwards at paradise with widely opened arms and heaving chest. The rocks around him in the painting are converting into a stream, implying that his life has just transformed. In the painting, a mystical light is showered over St. Francis; he seems to be absorbing this light and spreading it throughout the entire painting.[4]

### Materials

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In Saint Francis in Ecstasy, Bellini used a combination of oil and tempera paints, perhaps having been under the influence of Antonello da Messina.The painting 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.[5] The original size of the painting was cut-down from the top side; this is evident because the painting continues completely to the end of the panel. However, the original painting would not be much larger than the present by estimation.[6] Saint Francis in Ecstasy was directed towards Art Museum Metropolitan for detailed cleaning and highly technical assessment of this painting by Scientists, Art Masters and Conservators, the painting had evidence of underdrawings.[4] The major findings such as compositional modifications, fingerprints, brushwork, sketching and the exposure of certain innovation belongs to the students of Bellini, i.e. Titian and Giorgione.[4] Though it has been cut down, it has otherwise been well-cared for since its creation.[6]

## Symbolism

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Bellini became sophisticated in his painting skill in the fifteenth century, the culmination of which is the Saint Francis In Ecstasy. The moment being depicted in the painting is Saint Francis's stigmatization on the mountain of La Verna. Bellini envisioned the stigmatization as a moment of human transformation into the divine.[7] The sun's rays shine on St. Francis, symbolizing him as a Seraph-Crucifix in front of the sun, which indicates the suffering image of the Seraphim.[3]

Francis lived under poor conditions during his later life and ministry and participated in isolated spiritual retreats at monasteries, as the painting shows; however, this painting is likely a symbolic representation of the saint. The animals in the picture may represent the saint's love for nature and animals.[8] 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 stigmata, 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.[9]

Whatever the specific moment portrayed may be, the representation is a fresh one and does not follow any of the established iconographic motifs.[8]

Detail-Skull-Saint Francis in Ecstasy-Bellini

In the left middle-ground is a donkey which can be interpreted as a symbol of humility and patience. In the lower right corner on a rustic reading table is a skull, representing mortality, welcomed in the last stanza of the saint's Canticle. The cave may relate Francis to Saint Jerome, who also lived in a cave or cell. The stream in the left middle-ground symbolizes Moses and the great spring, while the barren tree in the center of the painting represents the Burning Bush. The saint has left his wooden pattens behind and stands barefoot like Moses.[10]

On the green banks are a few bindweeds that open at the dawn and fade away at day's end. The small garden contains various types of medicinal plants, such as orris and mullein or Jacob's staff, and juniper. One of two fig trees is on the right-hand side of Saint Francis as leaves begin to sprout from a branch of the tree. The second fig tree is on the cliff surrounded by fruit. Each tiny flower represents St. Francis as he embraced poverty, prayer and humility. The painting represents not only the "stigmatization", but also the song, Canticle of the Sun, that St. Francis composed. Canticle of the Sun is a religious song that appreciates God's creation of nature.[9] The overall message displayed conveys Bellini's praises of the kingdom of God's creation.[5]

* Details
* Head of St Francis

* Donkey

* Stigmata, Right Hand

* Hare

### Landscape

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In the distance rises the still-empty Heavenly Jerusalem. The overall composition is thought to be a meditation of St. Francis on the creation of the world as related in the Book of Genesis. In the distance rises the still-empty Heavenly Jerusalem.[9] Francis took refuge in Mount La Verna, a deserted place in the Apennines, outside of Areezo, Tuscany.[1]

## Provenance

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Zuan Michiel commissioned Bellini to create St. Francis in the 1480s. Taddeo Contarini acquired the painting after Zuan Michiel's death.[11][12] In 1660, Bellini's St. Francis was mentioned in Marco Boschini’s dialect poem, after Boschini saw the painting in Giulio Guistiniani’s palace.[11] At the end of the eighteenth century, the picture still remained in the Cormaro Palace, according to Abbate Lanzi. The painting might have left Venice for the first time at some point between 1796 and 1852.[11] It was offered for sale at Christie’s on 19 June 1852 and claimed to have originally been made for "a convent in the Milanese."[11]

In 1915, the painting entered the Frick Collection in New York City,[13] displayed prominently in what was the living room of Henry Clay Frick, an American industrialist, financier, and art patron.[6] Frick had acquired the painting even though he had little interest in religious paintings, but he valued this painting for its extensive landscape. The painting remains in the Frick Collection and is considered one of its finest assets.[6] The painting is in excellent condition.[6] The painting was included in the 1857 Manchester Art Treasures exhibition.[14]

## References

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1. ^ a b The Frick Collection. "Cocktails with a Curator: Bellini's "St. Francis in the Desert"".
2. ^ Rutherglen and Hale, In a New Light, pp. 78–79.
3. ^ a b Tempestini, Anchise (1999). Giovanni Bellini. Abbeville press. p. 112\. ISBN 9780789204332.
4. ^ a b c d e Esplund, Lance (2011). "A Shared Moment of Transformation". The Wall Street Journal.
5. ^ a b The Frick Collection (2011). "Giovanni Bellini's "St. Francis in the Desert" FLORA (silent)".
6. ^ a b c d e The Frick Collection (2010). "Colin B. Bailey on Giovanni Bellini's St. Francis in the Desert".
7. ^ Kleiner, Fred S. (2010). Gardner's art through the ages. Book C, Renaissance and Baroque : the western perspective. Gardner, Helen, 1878-1946. (13th, Backpack ed.). Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-0-495-79456-1. OCLC 318536109.
8. ^ a b "culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/st-francis-in-the-desert". Archived from the original on 13 June 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
9. ^ a b c A similar suggestion is made by Anthony F. Janson, "The meaning of the landscape in Bellini's St. Francis in Ecstasy", Artibus et Historiae (1994:40ff); he suggests that the landscape is redolent of the Heavenly Jerusalem.
10. ^ Horst Woldemar Janson, Anthony F. Janson, Janson's History of Art: The Western Tradition "Giovanni Bellini".
11. ^ a b c d J.M, Fletcher (1972). "The Provenance of Bellini's Frick 'St Francis". The Burlington Magazine. 114 (829): 206–215. JSTOR 876969.
12. ^ Bellini and Giorgione in the House of Taddeo Contarini
13. ^ Marilyn Aronberg, Lavin; Liu, Jinyu; Gitner, Adam (2007). "The Joy of St. Francis: Bellini's Panel in the Frick Collection". Artibus et Historiae. 28 (56): 231–232. JSTOR 20067174.
14. ^ Hamilton, James (2015). A Strange Business. New York: Pegasus Books. p. 325\. ISBN 978-1-60598-870-2.

## External links

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* Rutherglen, Susannah and Hale, Charlotte, et al. In a New Light: Giovanni Bellini's St. Francis in the Desert. The Frick Collection, New York, 2015 [1][2]

External videos

The Frick Collection's Colin Bailey on Giovanni Bellini's St. Francis in the Desert, Frick Collection[1]
Bellini's St. Francis, Smarthistory[2]

## Further reading

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* De Vecchi, Pierluigi; Elda Cerchiari (1999). I tempi dell'arte. Vol. 2\. Milan: Bompiani. ISBN 88-451-7212-0.

* v
* t
* e

Giovanni Bellini

List of works

Paintings|

* St. Jerome in the Desert (Birmingham)
* Madonna and Child (Pavia)
* Transfiguration (Venice)
* Pietà (Bergamo)
* Crucifixion
* Pietà (Milan)
* Agony in the Garden
* Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels
* Presentation at the Temple
* Christ Blessing (Paris)
* Frizzoni Madonna
* Madonna and Child Blessing
* The Blood of the Redeemer
* Madonna and Child (Milan, 1460–1465)
* Greek Madonna
* Nativity Triptych
* Saint Vincent Ferrer Altarpiece
* San Lorenzo Triptych
* San Sebastiano Triptych
* Triptych of the Madonna
* The Head of St John the Baptist
* Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels (Berlin)
* Dead Christ Supported by Angels (Rimini)
* The Dead Christ Supported by the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist
* Lehman Madonna
* Pesaro Altarpiece
* Portrait of Georg Fugger
* Lochis Madonna
* Madonna and Child (Verona)
* Enthroned Madonna Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child
* Madonna and Child (Venice, 1475)
* Madonna Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child
* St. Francis in Ecstasy
* Contarini Madonna
* Resurrection of Christ
* Portrait of a Humanist
* Transfiguration of Christ (Naples)
* Willys Madonna
* St. Jerome in the Desert (Florence)
* Saint Jerome Reading in a Landscape
* Alzano Madonna
* Madonna of the Red Cherubim
* Madonna and Child (New York, late 1480s)
* San Giobbe Altarpiece
* Madonna and Child with Saint Peter and Saint Sebastian
* Madonna of the Small Trees
* Barbarigo Altarpiece
* Frari Triptych
* Madonna and Child with Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Ursula
* Portrait of a Young Man in Red
* Madonna and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist
* Portrait of a Young Man (Paris)
* Holy Allegory
* Portrait of a Young Senator
* Allegories
* Portrait of a Condottiero
* Annunciation
* Christ Blessing (Fort Worth)
* Circumcision of Christ*
* Lamentation over the Dead Christ (Florence)
* Portrait of a Young Man (Washington)
* Self-Portrait
* Portrait of a Young Man (Liverpool)
* Baptism of Christ
* Head of the Redeemer
* Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan
* Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and a Female Saint
* Martinengo Pietà
* Portrait of a Young Man (Royal Collection)
* St. Jerome in the Desert (Washington)
* San Zaccaria Altarpiece
* Madonna del Prato
* Portrait of the Loredan Family
* The Infant Bacchus
* Sacred Conversation (Madrid)
* St. Mark Preaching in Alexandria
* The Assassination of Saint Peter Martyr
* Madonna and Child with Four Saints and Donor
* The Continence of Scipio
* Madonna and Child (Detroit)
* Madonna and Child (Rome)
* Madonna and Child (Milan, 1510)
* Virgin in Glory with Saints
* Saints Christopher, Jerome and Louis of Toulouse
* The Feast of the Gods
* Drunkenness of Noah
* Naked Young Woman in Front of a Mirror
* Portrait of Fra Teodoro of Urbino as Saint Dominic
* Deposition

Other|

* Martyrdom of Saint Maurice and his Comrades (illuminated manuscript; attributed)

Related|

* San Zaccaria, Venice (1995 photograph)
* Venetian Renaissance

Family|

* Jacopo Bellini (father)
* Gentile Bellini (brother)
* Andrea Mantegna (brother-in-law)

* Workshop

* v
* t
* e

Francis of Assisi

Organisations|

* Order of Friars Minor (Custody of the Holy Land)
* Order of Saint Clare
* Secular Franciscan Order
* Third Order of Saint Francis

Works by Francis|

* Canticle of the Sun

Created|

* Sanctuary of Greccio
* Nativity scene (live)

Honors|

* Feast of Saints Francis and Catherine
* World Animal Day

Literature about|

* Little Flowers of St. Francis

Visual art|

* Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence (Caravaggio)
* Saint Francis in Meditation (Caravaggio)
* Saint Francis in Prayer (Caravaggio)
* Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy (Caravaggio)
* Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata (Giotto)
* São Francisco (Gonçalves)
* St Francis (Zurbarán)
* Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata (van Eyck)
* St. Francis in Ecstasy (Bellini)
* Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy (studio of El Greco)
* St. Francis in Ecstasy (Zurbarán)

Music|

* "All Creatures of Our God and King"
* The Canticle of the Sun (Sowerby)
* Le Laudi (Suter oratorio)
* Légende No. 1 (Liszt)
* Laudato si' (Reulein oratorio)
* Quatre petites prières de saint François d'Assise

Stage|

* Nobilissima Visione (1938 ballet)
* Saint François d'Assise (1983 Messiaen opera)
* Samstag aus Licht (1983 Stockhausen opera)

Films|

* Frate Sole (1918)
* The Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
* Francis of Assisi (1961)
* Francesco di Assisi (1966)
* Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
* Francesco (1989)
* St. Francis (2002)
* Clare and Francis (2007)

Related|

* List of places named after Saint Francis
* Madonna of Foligno
* Wolf of Gubbio
* Discalced
* Prayer of Saint Francis
* Society of Saint Francis
* Pope Francis
* "The Sermon of St. Francis" (poem)
* Pranchiyettan & the Saint

Catholicism portal

1. ^ "The Frick Collection's Colin Bailey on Giovanni Bellini's St. Francis in the Desert". Frick Collection. 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
2. ^ "Bellini's St. Francis". Smarthistory at Khan Academy. Retrieved 20 February 2013.

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