St. Francis in the Desert

This painting was done by Giovanni Bellini in 1480. Bellini was known to bring humanistics and religious qualities into a naturalistic painting. [2]. This work is no excpetion as it a provides a beautiful landscape that almost seems like a photograph of this instance in time. This painting articulates the love of nature that St. Francis has.The dark, rich shades of blues and greens that make up the sky and vegetation enhance the naturalistic, divine beauty this work has. Additionally, the background includes numerous animals in the landscape, which helps translates the viewer's understanding of St. Francis into the artwork. The painting radiates  a soft warm glow, which reinforces the idea of man and nature in harmony. [1] Furthermore, this painting seems to provide a strong connection between religion and nature. St Francis has his arms spread wide and his head is thrown back as he looks up to the sky. The ecstasy he experiences as he looks up to the heavens, suggested by scholars, is from receiving the stigmata. The stigmata, signs of the wounds inflicted on Jesus during the crucifixion, are reputed to have miraculously appeared on the hands and feet of St Francis. [3] Clearly, St. Francis is a religious symbol, but one can also see a book, which is potentially the bible, in this painting. This book is a vivid red color, which allows it to stand out in the painting because it provides a strong contrast with the cooler colors within the work. I also thought it was quite notable that Bellini still managed to incorporate Venetian architecture into the deep background of his piece. This painting provides a blend of the common motifs seen in typical Venetian works.




[1] Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, Jinyu Liu, and Adam Gitner, "The Joy of St. Francis: Bellini's Panel in the Frick Collection," Artibus Et Historiae 28, no. 56 (2007): 231-56. 

[2] Daniel Wallace Maze. "Giovanni Bellini: Birth, Parentage, and Independence." Renaissance Quarterly 66, no. 3 (2013): 783-823. 

[3] “The Ecstasy of St. Francis (1480).” Ecstasy of St. Francis, Giovanni Bellini: Analysis. (2020)

Giovanni Bellini

Lavin, Marilyn Aronberg, Jinyu Liu, and Adam Gitner. "The Joy of St. Francis: Bellini's Panel in the Frick Collection." Artibus Et Historiae 28, no. 56 (2007): 231-56. Accessed November 10, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20067174.

Maze, Daniel Wallace. "Giovanni Bellini: Birth, Parentage, and Independence." Renaissance Quarterly 66, no. 3 (2013): 783-823. Accessed November 10, 2020. doi:10.1086/673583.

“The Ecstasy of St. Francis (1480).” Ecstasy of St. Francis, Giovanni Bellini: Analysis. Accessed November 10, 2020. http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-paintings/ecstasy-of-saint-francis.htm.

Image: Giovanni Bellini, European; Southern European; Italian, c.1430-1516. c. 1480. St. Francis in the Desert. Paintings. Place: The Frick Collection, New York, New York, USA, Purchased, 15.1.3, http://www.frick.org/. https://library.artstor.org/asset/AMICO_FRICK_103804828.

Giovanni Bellini, European; Southern European; Italian, c.1430-1516. c. 1480. St. Francis in the Desert. Paintings. Place: The Frick Collection, New York, New York, USA, Purchased, 15.1.3, http://www.frick.org/. https://library.artstor.org/asset/AMICO_FRICK_103804828.

1480

Jared Kreis

ARTstor Digital Library License Agreement

124.4 x 141.9 cm, tempera and oil on poplar panel

Painting

Frick Collection, New York City, New York