over all is the Holy Spirit. In each of these angles are certain Latin words, explanatory of the events depicted. Besides the paintings in these four compartments, those on the walls are extremely fine, and well deserve our admiration, not only for their beauty, but also for the care with which they were executed, which was such that they have retained their freshness[1] even to this day. The portrait of Giotto himself, very well done, may be seen in one of these pictures; and over the door of the sacristy is a fresco, also by him, representing St. Francis at the moment when he receives the stigmata[2]; the expression of the saint being so full of love and devotion, that to me this seems to be the best picture that Giotto has produced in this work, which is nevertheless all truly beautiful and admirable.[3]
When Giotto had at length completed this St. Francis, he returned to Florence, where, immediately after his arrival, he painted a picture to be sent to Pisa. This is also a St. Francis, standing on the frightful rocks of La Verna; and is finished with extraordinary care: it exhibits a landscape, with many trees and precipices, which was a new thing in those times. In the attitude and expression of St. Francis, who is on his knees receiving the stigmata, the most eager desire to obtain them is clearly manifest, as well as infinite love towards Jesus Christ, who from heaven above, where he is seen surrounded by the seraphim, grants these stigmata to his servant with looks of such lively affection, that it is not possible to conceive any thing more perfect. Beneath this picture are three others, also from the life of St. Francis, and very beautiful. The picture of the Stigmatae, just described, is still in the church of San Francesco[4] in Pisa, close
- ↑ * These paintings cannot now be said to have retained their freshness, either in the upper or lower church; those of the latter are perhaps, upon the whole, less injured than those of the upper church.
- ↑ Late events have made the word “Stigmata” familiar to English readers, and few will now, perhaps, require to be told, that this word signifies the five wounds of the Saviour, impressed by himself on the persons of certain saints, male and female, in reward for their sanctity and devotion to his service.
- ↑ Della Valle is doubtful whether these pictures really be by Giotto. Rumohr and Förster declare them to have been painted a century later than the time of Giotto.
- ↑ This picture was removed from the church of St. Francis to that of St. Nicholas, and afterwards to the principal chapel of the Campo Santo,
