Your Observations About the Paintings of St. Francis

Sebastian L.: In the medieval painting everything is completely out of proportion, while in the Renaissance painting everything is in proportion.

Porter: St. Francis is the same size as the mountain.

Juliet: In the medieval painting, it looks a little like St. Francis is a giant!

(Fantastic observation by Sebastian, Porter and Juliet -- for an example of the lack of proportion in the medieval painting, look at the closeup showing the tree compared with St. Francis)

Sebastian C.: The painting style of Saint Francis in the Desert is much more realistic than The Stigmatization of Saint Francis. For example, the colors have many more shades to show depth and texture, and every strand of hair has been painted with a single brush stroke.

In my opinion, it looks as if Saint Francis in the Desert shows us what was happening before Saint Francis was stigmatized, and the other painting shows what was happening during the stigmatization. For instance, in Saint Francis in the Desert, if you look very closely, you can see the beginnings of the stigmata on his hands.

(Wow. That is some sophisticated analysis, Sebastian. I love it!)

Henry: The colors on the first picture are much more earthy, unlike the second picture whose colors are incredibly realistic.

Noah: The second painting is very detailed and has the beautiful blue sky and the shapes of all the rocks.

Caroline: In Saint Francis in the Desert, I noticed that St. Francis looks like he is talking to someone, but it doesn’t look like anyone is there. Maybe it has a meaning, like you may not be able to see god but he’s always there.

Durland: In the first painting, you can see the person in the air. In the second painting, you can’t see anyone, but St. Francis is still looking up, and I think there is someone there, even if we can’t see it.

Grace W.: In The Stigmatization of St. Francis, it shows god in the painting. In St. Francis in the Desert, God is not shown in the painting, but it implies that St. Francis is looking at him.

Fantastic point by Caroline, Durland and Grace. Some art historians believe that Bellini (the painter) believed that God manifests himself in nature, which is why Bellini painted the bright light in the portion of the sky where Francis is looking.

 Finally, during a dreary Tuesday, I hope that Chaney's and Alex A.'s beautiful photography will bring some light into your life.