At the National Gallery - On the Tracks of Saint Francis of Assisi

An artistic journey following the tracks of Saint Francis of Assisi, from Sassetta to Giuseppe Penone, reveals the allure of the patron saint of Italy on the images of the masters of yesterday and today to the public of the National Gallery. The evolution of the image of Francis who, in 1228, was declared a saint by Pope Gregory, is seen through over 40 masterpieces arriving in London from private and public collections in both Europe and the United States, created over the span of seven centuries, the protagonists of the exhibition Saint Francis of Assisi. Embracing a wide variety of works and materials, from painted panels from the Middle Ages to manuscripts and even Marvel comics, the itinerary examines the extaordinary figure of the saint who inspired the brushes of artists from every age, continent and religious belief. The exhibition in the gallery of Trafalgar Square accompanies the public through the life of the saint with works such as Saint Francis in Meditation by Francisco de Zurbarán in dialogue with several contemporary pieces, such as Untitled (for Francis) by Antony Gormley or River Avon Mud Crescent (2023) by Richard Long who transforms a humble material like mud into something spectacular. A Walk for Saint Francis, meanwhile, is a piece commissioned to the British artist specifically for the exhibition. While the panels of Sassetta for the Alterpiece of San Sepolcro (1437-1444) bring us face to face with one of the most celebrated “visual biographies” of the saint, the drawings of Matthew Paris in Chronica Maiora show some of the first English depictions of Francis. The mysticism of the “poor fellow of Assisi” can be seen in works such as Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata by El Greco or Saint Francis Embracing Christ Crucified by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo and the masterpiece by Caravaggio, Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy (1595 circa). His radical choices can be seen through the presence of objects, such as the extraordinary relic garment of Francis from Santa Croce, The Sack of Alberto Burri and Saint Francis before the Sultan by Beato Angelico.