Saint Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi (c. 1181-1226) was an Italian Catholic friar who took a vow of poverty, dedicating his life to God. He travelled around Italy preaching and founded the Franciscan Order. This religious group was founded during the twelfth century and continues to this day. Saint Francis is believed to have had a vision of an angel while praying on a mountain, during which he received the stigmata, the wounds Christ received upon his crucifixion (wounds on his wrists and feet, from the nails, and in his side, from a lance). In this painting, Saint Francis is identified by the wound in his side as well as the brown robe and belt worn by members of the Franciscan Order.  

Along with a small painting depicting Saint Anthony of Padua – also in the Dulwich Picture Gallery collection - this is one of the outer panels from a predella, the long horizontal structure at the base of an altarpiece. It formed part of the Colonna Altarpiece, which was painted by Raphael (1483-1520) in around 1502, for the Franciscan convent of Sant’Antonio in Perugia. The intact altarpiece hung in a part of the church reserved for the nuns of the convent until 1663 when the nuns of Sant’Antonio sold the predella to cover their debts. The main part of the altarpiece, together with one predella panel, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The other predella panels are in the National Gallery London and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.