The Marriage of Saint Francis to Lady Poverty

Localisation : The Tribune
Année de création :1437-1444
Artiste :Stefano di Giovanni di Console, known as Sassetta

Description

This panel once adorned the reverse of a monumental polyptych, one of the most important of the first Quattrocento, commissioned in 1437 by the Franciscans for the high altar of the church in the Borgo San Sepolcro monastery (Tuscany). Made up of 60 panels, this polyptych was dismantled down through the centuries. Its surviving fragments are today dispersed across the world. This panel depicts Saint Francis giving up comforts and material goods. Poverty is embodied by a young woman dressed in brown, and Saint Francis puts the ring on her finger as Chastity (in white) and Obedience (in red) look on with satisfaction. The three allegorical figures fly away afterwards: only Poverty looks back. Sassetta was one of the Masters from the Sienese School in the Quattrocento. Although his style is marked by the International Gothic style, with its slim, elegant figures dressed in flowing garments, this panel demonstrates his approach to landscape as an accessible space, indicating his knowledge of Florentine innovations.