European and American Art

VICENTE CARDUCHO
Spanish, born in Italy, 1576/78 - 1638
St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata
oil on canvas, about 1610-1630
The William A. Whitaker Foundation Art Fund, 95.3

This painting depicts an episode in the life of St. Francis of Assisi (1181 - 1226). In 1224 Francis was praying on Monte La Verna in the Appennine mountains when he had the vision of a seraph with six wings carrying the image of a man crucified. After the vision he found that his body was marked with wounds in the hands, feet and side, corresponding to the wounds that Christ had received. These "stigmata" (the Latin word for marks made by a brand) remained with him for the rest of his life.

The figure in the distance is one of Francis' early followers, Brother Leo, who witnessed the miracle. The book he holds probably refers to the biography of St. Francis that he would later write in collaboration with two of the saint's other companions.