Mystic Marriage of St. Francis (Sassetta)

Mystic Marriage of St. Francis

Artist	Sassetta
Year	c. 1450
Type	Tempera on panel
Dimensions	95 cm × 58 cm (37 in × 23 in)
Location	Musée Condé, Chantilly

The Mystic Marriage of St. Francis is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Sassetta, currently housed in the Musée Condé of Chantilly, France.

Description

The painting was originally part of a polyptych at Sansepolcro, where it was seen by Piero della Francesca.

It portrays St. Francis of Assisi while ideally marrying the three Theological Virtues, Faith, Hope and Charity, through the donation of a ring to them. The three virtues have differently colored dresses: red for Charity, green for Hope and white for Faith; they are also depicted on the left while flying to heaven with sticks in their hands. Behind St. Francis, who wears his traditional brown monk habit, is his companion Fra' Leone.

The scene is set in an idyllic landscape, between hills, castles and cultivated fields, without any attention to perspective and realism as in other Renaissance works. Sassetta was in fact one of the last painters of the Sienese Gothic school, as shown by the use of elongated figures, the delicate colors and the courtly atmosphere.

Sources

• Zuffi, Stefano (2004) (in Italian). Il Quattrocento. Milan: Electa.