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Sassetta, 'Saint Francis and the Poor Knight, and Francis's Vision', 1437-44

About the work

According to his biography, the young Saint Francis of Assisi, the son of a wealthy merchant, gave his expensive clothes to a poor knight. The next night God sent him a vision of a great palace, and promised it to him and his soldiers (that is, the army of Franciscan friars he was to found). This the first of eight paintings from the back of an elaborate double-sided altarpiece by Sassetta, which was one of the outstanding artistic commissions of fifteenth-century Italy.

The theme of poverty and its rewards runs through the altarpiece, perhaps encouraged by the stringent attitudes of the Observant (reformed) Franciscans, who attracted many followers at this time. Francis’s elegant dress contrasts vividly with the knight’s ragged clothes: his spurs are silver and his robe is silver, painted over with a red lake glaze. The richness of his home is emphasised by the use of gold for the bedhead, cover and pillow.

Key facts

Full title
Saint Francis meets a Knight Poorer than Himself and Saint Francis's Vision of the Founding of the Franciscan Order
Artist
Sassetta
Artist dates
active by 1427; died 1450
Part of the series
San Sepolcro Altarpiece
Date made
1437-44
Medium and support
egg tempera on wood
Dimensions
87 × 52.5 cm
Acquisition credit
Bought with contributions from the Art Fund, Benjamin Guinness and Lord Bearsted, 1934
Inventory number
NG4757
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection
Frame
21st-century Replica Frame

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

About the series: San Sepolcro Altarpiece

Sassetta, 'Saint Francis and the Poor Knight, and Francis's Vision', 1437-44

These paintings were once part of one of the largest and most splendid altarpieces of the early Italian Renaissance. Made up of almost 60 panels, the double-sided altarpiece was painted for the high altar of San Francesco in Borgo San Sepolcro, a town near Arezzo. The back, which was seen primarily by the friars, showed Saint Francis in glory surrounded by eight scenes of his life, seven of which are in the National Gallery’s collection.

Unusually, surviving documents tell us a lot about how it was commissioned, constructed and paid for. The project was begun in 1426 but had foundered, and in September 1437 Sassetta took over. In early 1439 two friars visited him in Siena, bringing the scripta, a document stating what he was to depict. Although they provided the text, the artist provided the imagination: the scripta states that the friars, themselves artisans, and the painter together should decide on the details.

Saint Francis and the Poor Knight, and Francis's Vision
Saint Francis and the Poor Knight, and Francis's Vision
Sassetta
According to his biography, the young Saint Francis of Assisi, the son of a wealthy merchant, gave his expensive clothes to a poor knight. The next night God sent him a vision of a great palace, and promised it to him and his soldiers (that is, the army of Franciscan friars he was to found). This...
Not on display
Saint Francis renounces his Earthly Father
Saint Francis renounces his Earthly Father
Sassetta
Under the arches of a pink arcade, Bishop Guido of Assisi wraps his cloak around the naked Saint Francis of Assisi. The saint’s discarded boots, shirt and hose lie in a heap on the floor. To the left, Francis’s father, enraged by his son’s rejection of their wealthy lifestyle, has snatched up the...
Not on display
Saint Francis before Pope Honorius III
Saint Francis before Pope Honorius III
Sassetta
In a vaulted green hall, Pope Honorious III blesses Saint Francis of Assisi, watched by assembled cardinals and various others. This is the third of a series of eight panels depicting episodes from Saint Francis’s life. They were part of a sumptuous double-sided altarpiece Sassetta made for the...
Not on display
The Stigmatisation of Saint Francis
The Stigmatisation of Saint Francis
Sassetta
Saint Francis of Assisi kneels in a rocky landscape, hands raised in prayer, gazing up at a vision of Christ floating in the sky. Christ has the six wings of a seraphim and his arms are extended as if on the Cross. Rays from Christ’s stigmata – the wounds he received at the Crucifixion – impress...
Not on display
Saint Francis before the Sultan
Saint Francis before the Sultan
Sassetta
Saint Francis of Assisi, eager to defend his faith through martyrdom, went to Syria to preach to its Muslim population around 1219, at the time of the Fifth Crusade (one of a series of invasions of Muslim countries by Christian armies attempting to recapture the Holy Land). He was captured and ta...
Not on display
The Wolf of Gubbio
The Wolf of Gubbio
Sassetta
In around 1220, Saint Francis of Assisi was living in Gubbio, Umbria. When a ferocious wolf began attacking livestock and people, Francis rebuked it, and tamed the animal by making the sign of the cross. He promised that, if it stopped terrorising the city, it would be forgiven and cared for. The...
Not on display
The Funeral of Saint Francis
The Funeral of Saint Francis
Sassetta
Saint Francis of Assisi died on 4 October 1226, surrounded by his friars at the chapel of the Portiuncula, outside Assisi. Rather than in a tiny chapel, here the saint lies on a bier in front of the altar of a large pink and blue church, surrounded by friars, church officials and other witnesses....
Not on display