Francis of Assisi embracing the Cross

Francis of Assisi Embracing the Cross, in the Musei di Strada Nuova in Genoa, returns Strozzi to the subject of his former Capuchin order with a specifically mystical image: the saint's physical embrace of the instrument of Christ's death. The image of Francis clinging to or embracing the cross was associated with the mystical traditions of Franciscan piety that emphasised bodily identification with Christ's suffering as the path to spiritual union. Strozzi, who had left the Capuchin order under pressure around 1610, maintained a complex relationship with Franciscan spirituality throughout his career — painting the saint's life with evident knowledge of and feeling for its inner dimensions. The Strada Nuova context, in the great Genoese patrician palaces, gives the work a setting of aristocratic devotional culture.

Canvas with concentrated warm chiaroscuro — the cross and Francis's embracing form lit against darkness in a way that suggests the spiritual warmth of the mystical encounter. The roughness of the wooden cross is painted with the same material honesty Strozzi brought to his food vendors' produce. Francis's habit is rendered in its honest poverty.