The Totems of His Life

St. Francis in the Desert, Bellini, ca. 1470

Professor William Wallace, as art teachers are wont to do, asks us to pause and notice everything included in St. Francis in the Desert: [bold added]

A rocky escarpment dominates the right half of the picture, evoking—despite the painting’s current title—La Verna, the mountainous retreat in Central Tuscany where Francis received the stigmata (Christ’s wounds from the Crucifixion). A woven wattle gate closes the entrance to the saint’s dark grotto cell. A grape arbor shelters a well-constructed lectern desk and plank bench. Reading and meditation are aided by the clasped, leather-bound book; vigilant skull; thin reed cross; and a bell waiting to be jangled by its knotted string. The cast-off wooden clogs suggest we are on holy ground, prompting us to note Francis’s bare feet, and perhaps to search for evidence of the stigmata.

Professor Wallace goes on to comment about every object in the painting to foster an appreciation of the work. The artist's method is consistent with Renaissance portraiture, which not only depicted the individual but also his or her interests, life history, and/or status.

Francis of Assisi rejected his family's wealth (in the upper left "the world he left behind: a medieval town with arched gateways and crenellated walls") and embraced a life of absolute poverty. He preached a love of animals and all of God's creation. At great personal risk he visited and tried to convert the Sultan of Egypt in the midst of the Crusades. He founded the Franciscan Order, which continues to have enormous influence in the Catholic Church.

Giovanni Bellini had a lot of material to choose from when he rendered St. Francis and the totems of his life. Pre-COVID-19, St. Francis in the Desert would have merited scarcely a glance from your humble blogger. Now that priorities have changed, I can spend a little more time appreciating art.