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Francesco Vanni

The Virgin and Child Appearing to Saint Francis of Assisi, 1599

Now On View

Description

Maker

Title

The Virgin and Child Appearing to Saint Francis of Assisi

Year

1599

Medium

Oil on canvas

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Supports

Dimensions

266.1 x 182.9 cm (104 3/4 x 72 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Dated on rock at left:1599

Place

Italy

Type

Credit

Corporate Membership Fund

Object Number

57.227

Projects & Publications

Publications

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

European Galleries

This painting by Francesco Vanni, a leading Sienese artist in the late 1500s, depicts the Virgin Mary’s miraculous appearance to Saint Francis of Assisi. As he embraces the infant Jesus, his older companion has fallen asleep while meditating on a skull, a symbol of mortality. Commissioned by the Italian Cardinal Buonviso Buonvisi, the canvas was offered to the monastery of the Cordeliers de l’Observance in Lyon, France, where it hung in the Chapelle des Lucquois, reputedly designed by Michelangelo. The church was endowed by merchant bankers from the Italian city of Lucca who had contributed to Lyon’s eminence as a center of trade.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is The Virgin and Child Appearing to Saint Francis of Assisi with the accession number of 57.227. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.