Giovanni Bellini's St. Francis in the Desert is a masterpiece of spiritual poetry

On Sunday, April 11th, August celebrated my birthday with me at the Frick Madison.  It was truly heaven on earth. I finally experienced the exquisite merging of photography and painting. Please see the installation below where the natural light and trapezoidal shape of the window is paired with Bellini's St. Francis in the Desert.

Giovanni Bellini's St. Francis in the Desert is a masterpiece of spiritual poetry that has enthralled generations of visitors to The Frick Collection.

This monumental painting — the largest work on panel at the Frick — portrays Francesco Bernardone of Assisi (c. 1181–1226), the medieval saint who renounced earthly riches to embrace a life of poverty, humility, simplicity, and prayer. Francis founded the mendicant religious order known in Italy as the Frati Minori, or Friars Minor, still flourishing today. In 1224, during a retreat to the Tuscan mountain of La Verna, he was honored for his empathetic faith with the stigmata, the imprint of the five wounds of Christ's Crucifixion

 

Giovanni Bellini St. Francis in the Desert, c. 1475-78, 

oil on poplar panel, 49 x 55 7⁄8 inches,