Sandro Botticelli, 'Saint Francis of Assisi with Angels', about 1475-80

Saint Francis of Assisi with Angels

Sandro Botticelli

Not on display

About the work

Overview

Saint Francis stands on a marble ledge against a golden background. He embraces a Crucifix and gazes compassionately at the tiny figure of the crucified Christ. If you look closely you can see bright red blood on Christ’s feet and his white loin cloth, where it has dripped from the wound in his side.

The saint is flanked by angels playing musical instruments, their feet supported by small clouds. His meditation on Christ’s suffering was so intense that, during a vision of Christ on the Cross, Saint Francis miraculously developed the wounds of the Crucifixion. We can see them here on his hands and feet.

The picture was once thought to be by the Florentine artist Filippino Lippi, but cleaning and restoration in 2002 revealed that it is probably an early work by his teacher, Botticelli.

In-depth

Saint Francis stands on a marble ledge against a golden background. He wears a hooded brown cloak tied with a knotted cord, the habit (uniform) of the religious order of friars he founded, the Franciscans. He embraces a Crucifix and gazes compassionately at the tiny figure of the crucified Christ. If you look closely you can see bright red blood on Christ’s feet and his white loin cloth, where it has dripped from the wound in his side.

The saint is surrounded on either side by angels playing musical instruments, their feet supported by small clouds. His pose is inspired by the legend that his meditation on Christ’s suffering was so intense that, during a vision of Christ on the Cross, he miraculously developed the wounds of the crucifixion, known as the stigmata. We can see them here on his hands and feet.

Saint Francis’s intense identification with the suffering of Christ led him to become known as the alter Christus (‘another Christ’). This empathetic devotion was the hallmark of Franciscan spirituality and it became popular among the ordinary citizens of Florence too. This picture was probably made for private worship, and for a Florentine citizen rather than a friar, whose commitment to a life of poverty would have ruled out owning such a precious object. By offering a heavenly vision of Saint Francis’s religious experience the painting encourages emulation of his piety and devotion.

The painting was once inscribed in Latin along the bottom with lines from the Franciscan hymn, the Decus Morum, followed by the date 1492. The inscription was removed in 1940 after scientific analysis revealed that it contained a pigment called Prussian Blue, which only came into use in the eighteenth century. The modern inscription may have been added to complement the image of the saint in worship – the Decus Morum was sung on the feast day of the stigmata on 17 September – or it might have been an attempt to reinforce an older, or original, inscription.

The picture was once thought to be by the Florentine artist Filippino Lippi, but cleaning and restoration in 2002 revealed that it was in fact very similar to works by Botticelli, Filippino’s teacher. It particularly resembles works from his early career, especially those made in the second half of the 1470s. The heart-shaped faces of the angels are typical of Botticelli’s work of this period; the way in which they are stacked up one behind the other to give the impression they are receding into the background is similar to how Botticelli painted crowds in the Adoration of the Kings, for example. These comparisons suggest that the date of 1492 following the inscription is not accurate and therefore also not original.

The painting is unusual for Botticelli, however: all the other examples of his work that show a single saint are fragments of something larger. The gold background is also unusual: in this period works with gold backgrounds were considered old-fashioned in Florence, although still popular in the nearby Tuscan city of Siena. The gold leaf has been incised with a sharp tool to create a diaper (diamond) pattern and then punched with a metal tool with six prongs. This tool might have been lost during the process as the lower part is punched with a five pronged punch. The incising and punching created a textured surface which would glimmer and sparkle in candlelight, intensifying the glory and mystery of the saint’s vision.

Key facts

Details

Full title: Saint Francis of Assisi with Angels
Artist: Sandro Botticelli
Artist dates: about 1445 - 1510
Date made: about 1475-80
Medium and support: egg tempera with some oil on wood
Dimensions: 49.5 × 31.8 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1858
Inventory number: NG598
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Frame: 16th-century Italian Frame

Provenance

In the Collection of Conte Giovanni Battista Costabili at Ferrara by 1841; purchased from that collection in 1858.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2010

Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries

The National Gallery (London)

30 June 2010 - 12 September 2010
2014

Making Colour

The National Gallery (London)

18 June 2014 - 7 September 2014
2015

Visions of Paradise: Botticini's Palmieri Altarpiece

The National Gallery (London)

4 November 2015 - 14 February 2016
2023

Saint Francis of Assisi

The National Gallery (London)

6 May 2023 - 30 July 2023

Bibliography

1838

C. Laderchi, Descrizione della quadreria Costabili, 4 parts, Ferrara 1838
1883

J.P. Richter, Italian Art in the National Gallery, London 1883
1901

E. Jacobsen, 'Italienische Gemälde in der National Galerie zu London: Kritische Notizen zum Katalog von 1898', Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft, XXIV, 1901
1903

J.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, A History of Painting in Italy, Umbria, Florence and Siena, from the Second to the Sixteenth Century, ed. R.L. Douglas, 2nd edn, 6 vols, London 1903
1923

R. van Marle, The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, 19 vols, The Hague 1923
1932

H. Bodmer, 'Der Spätstil des Filippino Lippi', Pantheon, V, 1932, pp. 126-31
1935

A. Scharf, Filippino Lippi, Vienna 1935
1935

T. Borenius, 'Filippino Lippi by Alfred Scharf', The Burlington Magazine, LXVI/385, 1935, pp. 195-6
1951

Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
1961

M. Davies, The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd edn, London 1961
1970

G. Mandel, The Complete Paintings of Botticelli, London 1970
1986

Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
1990

A. Ugolini, 'Rivedendo la Collezione Costabili di Ferrara', Paragone, XLI/489, 1990, pp. 50‑76
1993

J. Anderson, 'Documents for the History of Collecting: 16: The Rediscovery of Ferrarese Renaissance Painting in the Risorgimento', The Burlington Magazine, CXXXV/1085, 1993, pp. 539-49
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001

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.

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You've viewed 6 of 14 works

Sandro Botticelli, 'Saint Francis of Assisi with Angels', about 1475-80

About the work

Overview

In-depth

Key facts

Details

Provenance

Additional information

Source

Exhibition history

Bibliography

About this record

Images

More works by Sandro Botticelli