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Secondary sourcePainting1260

Saint Francis and Four Posthumous Miracles

Giunta Pisano · 1260

An early panel painting of Francis of Assisi, made about thirty years after his death, showing him with the stigmata and surrounded by miracle scenes.

One of the earliest known portraits of Francis, painted decades after his death to present him as a miracle-working saint.

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Painted panel of a standing saint in a dark brown hooded habit, holding a red Tau cross in one hand and an open book in the other, against a gold background. Four narrative scenes in arched frames surround him, with dark ornamental borders.
Giunta Pisano, Saint Francis and Four Posthumous Miracles, 1260. Pinacoteca Vaticana.

About this source

What it is

This panel painting by Giunta Pisano shows Francis standing in a dark hooded habit, holding a red Tau cross and an open book, against a gold background. Around him are four smaller scenes showing miracles said to have happened after his death. It was painted around 1260 and is held today in the Pinacoteca Vaticana.

Why it matters

Painted only decades after Francis died, this is among the earliest surviving images of him and shows how the young Franciscan order wanted him remembered: as a holy man bearing Christ's wounds (the stigmata) and working miracles after death. It reveals how Francis's followers shaped his public image soon after his lifetime.

Look closer

  • What details in the painting (the cross, the book, the stigmata) tell you what the painter wanted viewers to believe about Francis?
  • Why might the surrounding miracle scenes have been included alongside the main figure?
  • What does this painting leave out about Francis's actual life and choices?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Saint Francis on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Primary source

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Photograph of a small, aged parchment sheet sealed in a metal-framed case. It has faded brown ink text in Latin with red headings, a large hand-drawn red and brown Tau cross with a figure-like sketch, and a few lines of writing at the bottom.Document

Primary source

Chartula fratri Leonis

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Secondary source

First Life of Saint Francis

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Secondary source

Saint Francis of Assisi and Scenes of His Life

Bonaventura Berlinghieri · 1235

Aerial view of the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi on a hilltop, with its pink-toned stone walls, a tall bell tower, and a large sloping retaining wall. A parking area and winding road are below, with green valley and hills in the distance under a cloudy sky.Artifact

Secondary source

Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi

begun 1228

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