The Stigmatization of Saint Francis

In this painting by Gaddi, Saint Francis of Assisi receives Christ’s wounds (stigmata) from a vision of the crucified Christ borne by a seraph, an angel with six fiery wings. The miracle is believed to have taken place in 1224, two years before Francis’s death, while he was praying at Mount La Verna in Tuscany. This arresting image— possibly intended for a Franciscan church in Florence— was based on an earlier painting by Giotto, Gaddi’s godfather. Giotto’s influence on Gaddi can be seen in the naturalistic portrayal of Francis’s concentrated expression and in the folds of his brown habit, rendered through soft brushwork and subtle gradation of tone.