Saint Francis of Assisi

Devoting an exhibition to an iconographic theme is a good thing, because our contemporaries are often ignorant of both the religious history and the mythology on which our civilisation is based. They can also be an opportunity to discover lesser-known works, with the subject taking precedence over the name of the artist, which is not to say that we should sacrifice ourselves to mediocrity. A recent successful example is the exhibition on Medusa at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen (see article).

1. Michelangelo Merisi, called Caravaggio (1571-1610)
Saint Francis in Ecstasy, c. 1595
Oil on canvas - 94 x 129,5 cm
Harford, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
Photo: Didier Rykner

See the image in its page

The pitfall, and unfortunately the National Gallery has not completely avoided it, is the desire to show masterpieces by the greatest artists, as if this were a monographic exhibition, or as if only the big names could attract visitors (which is unfortunately often true). But what justification is there for taking ill-considered risks - because any transport of a work is risky - if it’s just a question of illustrating a subject? We wrote recently that a museum that lends works is not being generous; it is fulfilling its mission. But we added that the exhibition to which it sends a work must be justified. Moving, as we see here, a painting by Caravaggio from the United States - it is the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art’s Saint Francis in Ecstasy (ill. 1) - is not acceptable, when a very large number of Italian works from the Seicento depicting this subject exist, many of which have never been shown in exhibitions and do not undergo the same treatment as Caravaggio’s paintings.

2. Giovanni Battista Crespi, dit le Cerano (1573-1632)
Saint Francis in Ecstasy, c. 1598 (not in the exhibition)
Oil on canvas - 93.4 x 75.3 cm
Newcastle, The Hatton Gallery
Photo: The Hatton Gallery

See the image in its page

For an iconographic…