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Course: Medieval Europe + Byzantine > Unit 10
Lesson 5: Gothic art in ItalyInventing the image of Saint Francis
A conversation with Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris in the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence, in front of St. Francis and scenes from his life, 1240s-1260s, panel (Bardi Chapel, Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence). Created by Beth Harris, Smarthistory, and Steven Zucker.
Video transcript
- [Male Host] We're in
Santa Croce, in Florence, the great Franciscan church. - [Female Host] We're standing
close to the main alter. This is an overwhelming space. Much of it covered with fresco painting and the main apse occupied
by an enormous alter piece. - [Male Host] The space
is vast and it speaks to the huge crowds that were
flocking to the Franciscans. - [Female Host] They were
an enormously popular order. - [Male Host] The
Franciscans are medicants, that is, they're one
of the begging orders, like the Dominicans. St. Francis gave up
his worldly possessions and his followers do the same. - [Female Host] Both the
Franciscans and the Dominicans were relatively new religious orders that specifically located themselves in the cities in Italy and elsewhere in order to preach to an urban population. - [Male Host] Cities like Florence has become newly wealthy
in the 1200s, the 1300s, and especially in the 1400s. And they grew rapidly. Now of course there were
the bankers and merchants, but there we also many poor people. And the Dominicans and
Franciscans especially saw it as their mission to preach to the poor. The wealthy elites of
Florence saw the Franciscans as a pathway for their own redemption. And so they give the Franciscans
large amounts of money, which allowed them to build churches. But it also allowed them
to minister to the poor. - [Female Host] These
wealthy merchants and bankers provide for chapels as a place
of burial for their families and gave money to the
church so that the friars could say prayers on their behalf. The idea that prayers said
on your behalf here on Earth could help release you
sooner from purgatory so that you could get to heaven. - [Male Host] We're standing not only beside the high alter but also in front of a large panel painting. Now this painting of
St. Francis was produced only a couple of decades
after St. Francis's death. - [Female Host] He died
in 1226 and was canonized, was made a saint, in 1228. - [Male Host] Here is a contemporary man, a man who people might
have actually remembered, being represented in the
center of this painting almost as if he was a Byzantine icon. The icon tradition tends to focus on the figure, not in a narrative context, not telling stories. But here we have both, we
have that central figure that's functioning almost like an icon, but surrounded by narratives. - [Female Host] So here Francis stands in the center, completely
frontal, surrounded by gold. That gold coming from
that Byzantine tradition. And in this format we
see the central figure surrounded by apron
scenes, or scenes that tell the story of his life, his
miracles, and his ministry. - [Male Host] This is one of
eight 13th century paintings of Francis in this format, although there's a lot of local variation. - [Female Host] Some show
as few as four apron scenes. This one has 20 scenes from
Francis's life and miracles. - [Male Host] The earliest
of these paintings is in the town of Pesha,
not far from Florence, and that shows six apron scenes. Let's focus on two scenes that
are most often represented. The earlier of the two is
in the left most column. It's Francis preaching to the birds. - [Female Host] We see Francis
with two friars on the left and on the right a
stylized tree with birds perched on branches and beside that, stylized rows of different kinds of birds. - [Male Host] Francis's
biographers tell us that Francis preached to the birds, as if they were rational beings and that the birds responded. - [Female Host] What
we're learning is that Franciscans have a mission
to preach to everyone. - [Male Host] Two scenes to the right is probably the single most commonly represented image of Francis. This is the moment when
he receives the stigmata. According to Francis's biographers, late in his life Francis has a vision. He sees a seraph angel on a crucifix and soon after the wounds
that Christ received on the cross appear on Francis's body. This miracle is seen as an expression of his affinity with Christ, the way in which he had lived his life so closely to Christ that he was given this divine gift. The background is gold
and three rays emanate from the seraph and reach Francis. And this compositional
strategy will be influential in the next century. Artists like Giotto will create more naturalistic renderings
of this vary scene. - [Female Host] One of my favorite parts are the little rounds that
show Franciscan friars that are positioned at the corners of each of the apron scenes. They give us a sense
that Franciscan friars were close to Francis
himself and that we can be close to Francis and Christ through the ministry of the Franciscans. In the central panel,
Francis is elongated. His right hand is in
a gesture of blessing. It's very clear that he's
showing us the stigmata. - [Male Host] Francis is shown wearing rough brown cloth and he's shown barefoot. These are signs of his
self imposed poverty. And if you look closely at his belt, you'll see that it's just plain rope. But it's knotted three times. The three knots represent his vows: poverty, chastity, and obedience. - [Female Host] So while there were those who criticized the Franciscans
for building churches as lavish as this one,
the Franciscans held that doing so helped them in their ministry.