SAINT FRANCIS

ca. 1600–1604

Artist: Federico Barocci
Italian: Urbino, ca. 1535–1612
Date: ca. 1600–1604
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 35⅜ × 30⅞ in. (89.9 × 78.4 cm); with added strips, 35⅞ × 31⅜ in. (91.1 × 79.7 cm)
Current Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Department: European Paintings
Object Number: 2003.281
Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift and 2002 Benefit Fund, 2003
Status: Public Domain / Open Access

ABOUT THE MASTERPIECE

Created near the end of Federico Barocci's life, Saint Francis is an intensely intimate meditation on Saint Francis of Assisi and his extraordinary union with Christ Crucified.

Saint Francis is shown within a grotto on Mount La Verna, the sacred place where, according to Franciscan tradition, he received the stigmata—the wounds of Christ—during an experience of profound mystical contemplation.

Barocci does not present Francis as a distant or idealized saint. Instead, he brings us extraordinarily close to him.

Francis turns toward the Crucifix with an expression of complete absorption. His eyes are raised toward Christ, his mouth slightly parted, and his face seems alive with emotion. One hand is drawn toward his heart while the other reveals the miraculous wound of the stigmata.

The surrounding darkness intensifies the encounter. Everything seems to fall away except Francis and Christ.

THE STIGMATA OF SAINT FRANCIS

The stigmata is central to understanding this remarkable painting.

Saint Francis received the stigmata at La Verna in 1224, near the end of his life. The wounds corresponded to those suffered by Christ during the Crucifixion—in the hands, feet, and side.

Barocci has represented the wounds in an especially striking manner. The Metropolitan Museum of Art notes that the stigmata are depicted here as protruding nails, a treatment based upon early Franciscan written sources.

The effect is startlingly physical.

Yet Barocci does not make suffering the sole subject of the painting. Francis's expression transforms the scene into something deeper: an encounter between suffering and love, sacrifice and grace, humanity and the divine.

For Franciscan spirituality, the stigmata represented the extraordinary culmination of Francis's desire to imitate Christ—not merely through words, but through a life of poverty, humility, compassion, sacrifice, and complete devotion.

THE CRUCIFIX AND THE GROTTO

The Crucifix appears at the upper left of the composition, seemingly emerging from the surrounding darkness.

Francis's gaze leads us directly toward Christ.

The rocky grotto creates a sense of profound solitude. Removed from the distractions of ordinary life, Francis is shown in a place devoted to prayer and contemplation.

Beyond the grotto, however, Barocci allows us a glimpse of the distant landscape and fading light.

That small opening gives the painting an extraordinary sense of depth. The earthly world continues beyond the cave, while within it Francis experiences something deeply personal and transcendent.

THE OPEN BOOK

At the lower left lies an open devotional book.

Its presence reminds us that Francis's encounter with Christ is rooted in prayer, Scripture, and contemplation.

Barocci deliberately places the book, the saint, and the Crucifix within the same intimate visual world. Together they suggest a progression from the written word, through prayer and contemplation, toward an intensely personal encounter with Christ.

THE ARTIST — FEDERICO BAROCCI

Federico Barocci was one of the most important Italian painters of the generation between the High Renaissance and the full emergence of the Baroque.

Working primarily in Urbino, Barocci became celebrated for his extraordinary sensitivity to color, light, human expression, and spiritual emotion.

His figures often possess a warmth and psychological immediacy that distinguishes his religious paintings from the more formal compositions of many earlier Renaissance masters.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art describes Barocci's combination of naturalism, heightened emotion, and brilliant color as an important precursor to the development of Baroque painting.

In Saint Francis, those qualities become especially powerful.

Rather than simply illustrating an episode from the saint's life, Barocci allows us to witness something intensely personal: a man utterly absorbed in his love for Christ.

ARTISTIC & SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE

What makes this painting so compelling is its intimacy.

There is no elaborate procession, no magnificent church interior, and no gathering of angels and saints.

There is simply Francis.

Christ Crucified.

Prayer.

And silence.

Barocci's darkness draws us inward, while the Crucifix and Francis's illuminated face establish the emotional center of the painting.

The result is an image that feels almost private—as though we have quietly entered the grotto and witnessed Francis during one of the most profound spiritual experiences of his life.

WHY I CHOSE THIS MASTERPIECE

I was deeply drawn to this extraordinary portrayal of Saint Francis because it captures something far greater than a quiet moment of prayer. Barocci gives us Saint Francis in profound contemplation of Christ Crucified, within the solitude of the grotto at La Verna—the sacred place where Francis received the stigmata.

There is something almost overwhelming in the significance of that moment. The stigmata represents an extraordinary union of suffering and grace: Saint Francis's immense love for Christ becoming so complete that he was permitted to bear upon his own body the wounds of the Crucified Lord. To contemplate such a mystery evokes a remarkable mixture of awe, wonder, reverence, and even a profound spiritual joy.

I especially love the way Barocci has captured Francis's expression. His gaze seems filled not simply with sorrow, but with longing, astonishment, devotion, and love. The wounds visible in his hands quietly reveal the extraordinary event that has taken place, while the Crucifix before him reminds us of the source of his complete devotion.

For me, this painting embodies something profoundly beautiful about Saint Francis: his desire not merely to follow Christ, but to conform his entire life to Him.

It is masterpieces such as this that inspire me to create my collections. I believe sacred works of such beauty and spiritual significance deserve to be brought forward, seen, contemplated, and lived with—not simply left within the quiet walls and archives of museums.

Through my designs, I hope to share a little of the beauty, history, and faith contained within this remarkable work.

Barbara Ann
Owner & Designer
MasterpieceLiving.Shop

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VIEW THE ORIGINAL MASTERPIECE

Saint Francis is preserved in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art designates the image of this masterpiece Public Domain under its Open Access program, allowing the image to be freely used, including for commercial purposes.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
European Paintings
Object No. 2003.281

View the original artwork at The Metropolitan Museum of Art:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/438688