Saint Francis of Assisi

Raphael painted this Saint Francis of Assisi around 1502, now in the Louvre, during his early Umbrian period training under Perugino's influence. The stigmatized Francis in a prayerful attitude of mystical contemplation was one of the most frequently depicted saints in Italian art. Raphael's treatment shows the saint absorbed in devotional meditation, the wounds of the stigmata received from a seraphic vision visible. The small scale and intimate format suggest a private devotional panel or part of a predella. The Louvre's extensive Raphael collection reflects France's sustained acquisitive interest in the master's works from the early 16th century onward, when Francis I invited Leonardo to Amboise and established the French royal collection's Italian nucleus.

Oil on panel with Raphael's youthful mastery of the Umbrian palette and atmospheric landscape. The small scale concentrates the saint's mystical experience into an intimate devotional encounter.