Throughout 2024, Franciscans worldwide are commemorating the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi’s stigmata – the appearance of the bodily wounds of Christ’s crucifixion. This Oct. 4 also marks our Conventual Franciscan bishop’s first feast of St. Francis as Bishop of Charlotte. In honor of the stigmata anniversary and the saint’s feast day, explore artwork depicting this popular saint in the permanent collection of the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh.
St. Francis believed that although the kingdom of heaven is everywhere, the Portiuncula – the chapel he famously rebuilt – was visited more frequently by heavenly spirits. The saint himself also experienced such visits. When St. Francis received the stigmata, a member of the seraphim appeared to him in a vision holding a crucified man between his wings. A depiction of this can be found in oil on canvas circa 1470 by France’s School of Amiens at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. On the other side of the piece is a depiction of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, illustrating the closeness of the two events.