Marriage of St Francis to Lady Poverty 1437-44 Panel, 88 x 52 cm Musée Condé, Chantilly

The panel is from the back of a polyptych executed for the church of the convent of San Francesco at Borgo San Sepolcro.

This panel, one of the eight smaller scenes accompanying the St Francis in Ecstasy on the back of the double-sided altarpiece, shows the saint stepping forward to place a ring on the finger of Poverty, who stands between Chastity and Obedience, as the three float off for celestial regions. Poverty glances back sweetly toward her bridegroom. The curves of the Virtues harmonize with the shapes of the cusped frame. Between Francis and the Virtues a white road runs across the valley floor to branch into curves among distant ranges that are not just a backdrop; these mountains loom before us, their contours rippling in the evening air.

--- Keywords: --------------

Author: SASSETTA Title: Marriage of St Francis to Lady Poverty Time-line: 1401-1450 School: Italian Form: painting