Mystic Marriage of Saint Francis
Sassetta, 1437
Painted by Sassetta around 1437, the panel shows Saint Francis of Assisi in a mystical union with three female figures who stand for the theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. Dressed in the brown habit of his order, the saint slips a ring onto one of them, while his companion Brother Leo stands behind him. Some scholars suggest an alternative reading: the scene could represent the public vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, personified by three women in red, green and white. The barefoot central figure seems to glance back as the women depart, and each carries an emblem: a cross, lilies or a palm frond. The idyllic landscape of hills, castles and cultivated fields is painted without realistic perspective, while the elongated figures and delicate colours reveal the influence of Sienese Gothic painting, of which Sassetta was one of the last masters. The panel once belonged to a polyptych devoted to the saint's life and is now in the Musée Condé in Chantilly.
- Painter
- Sassetta
- Date
- 1437
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 88 × 52 cm
- Museum
- Condé Museum, Chantilly
- Genre
- religious art
- Depicts
- poverty, humility, Umbria, obedience, Franciscans, chastity, religious role, woman
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