St Francis of Assisi died late in the evening on October 3, 1226, at the age of about 44, and was canonized in July of 1228 by Pope Gregory IX. His order was almost from the start among the most important patrons of the arts, especially in its Italian heartlands of Umbria and Tuscany, and there is hardly a town of any size in those regions that does not (or did not formerly) boast some interesting and beautiful artwork made to honor their founder or one of their other Saints. I add the words “or did not formerly” because with the coming of the age of revolutions, and the suppression of so many churches of the religious orders, many of these works are now lost or removed to museums.
The church of St Francis in the little town of Pescia in Tuscany, about half-way between Lucca and Pistoia, had a medieval painting of the Saint, a work whose style was by the 17th century as utterly out of fashion as a painting could be. A local artist named Alessandro Bardelli (1583-1633) was therefore hired to make a new painting as a frame for it, which would display the original central image of Francis, but surrounded by a group of angels. (All images from Wikimedia Commons by Sailko, CC BY-SA 4.0)
In the 19th century, when Bardelli’s work had in turn fallen out of fashion, a painter and art critic also from that area named Michele Ridolfi (1793-1854), removed the frame to reveal the complete original image. The Italian Wikipedia article about the painting says that the date (1235) and the signature of the artist, Bonaventura Berlinghieri (1210 ca. - 1287), around St Francis’ feet, were covered by the frame, but in the photograph above, they are clearly visible. If the article is correct, then either the painting was positioned differently within the frame, or the aperture has subsequently been enlarged. In any case, Berlinghieri’s work, made just 7 years after Francis’ canonization, turns out to be the oldest painting of him and various episodes from his life. It is a work very in the style of Byzantine icons which prevailed in central Italy at the time, the style which would be superseded largely under the impetus which the Franciscans themselves gave to the more naturalistic style of later artists like Cimabue and Giotto. (Click image to enlarge.)
