The Image of St Francis
Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth Century
Published on 30. November 2006
Book
Hardback
540 pages
978-0-521-78291-3 (ISBN)
Description
An important new study of the way in which St Francis's image was recorded in literature, documents, architecture and art. St Francis was a man whose personality was deliberately stamped on his Order and Rosalind Brooke explores how the stories told by Francis's companions were at once brilliantly vivid portrayals of the man as well as guides to how the Franciscan way of life ought to be led. She also examines how after St Francis's death a great monument was erected to him in the Basilica at Assisi and how this came to reflect in stone and stained glass and fresco the manner in which some Popes and leading friars believed his memory should be fostered. Highly illustrated throughout, including colour and black and white plates, this book will be essential reading for medievalists and art historians as well as anyone interested in St Francis and the Franciscan movement.
Reviews / Votes
' ... superb, beautifully illustrated and altogether peerless ...what deserves to rank as one of the classic texts of Franciscan scholarship, not just of the twenty-first but to any other century.' Tablet 'For those interested in the multiple roles of visual imagery in creating, disseminating, and sustaining attitudes or ideas within a society, this is a fascinating book. ... For the specialist in Franciscan studies, The Image of St Francis is a goldmine, a tremendously impressive collection of material, presented with consummate scholarship, and many will be grateful for Brooke's efforts.' Visual ResourcesMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
10 Plates, color; 52 Halftones, unspecified; 7 Line drawings, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 260 mm
Width: 208 mm
Thickness: 34 mm
Weight
1387 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-78291-3 (9780521782913)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Dr Rosalind Brooke is a senior member of Clare Hall, Cambridge. Her publications include The Coming of the Friars (1975) and Popular Religion in the Middle Ages (with C. N. L. Brooke, 1984).
Content
1. Introduction; The soft wax; Dawn?; 2. The image in life; The image Francis sought to present; The impression Francis made on contemporaries; 3. The image after death; The early official image in writing; Elias' letter; The papal bull of Canonisation; Thomas of Celano's First Life of St Francis; 4. The official image in stone - the Basilica of St Francis at Assisi; I. The creation of the Basilica; The achievement of brother Elias; Progress of the building and its date; Furnishing the Basilica; II. The inspiration of the Basilica; Gregory IX; Innocent IV; Sources of inspiration; The functions of the double church; Conclusion - the image; 5. The authority of St Francis: expositions of the rule; The Exposition of the Four Masters; Hugh of Digne; The bull Ordinem vestrum; The sources and characteristics of Hugh's Exposition of the Rule; The bull Exiit qui seminat; 6. Reminiscences: the convergence of unofficial and official images in writing; The writings of Leo, Rufino, and Angelo; The image of St Francis as presented by Leo, Rufino and Angelo; The anonymous of Perugia; Thomas of Celano's Second Life of St Francis; The Legend of the Three Companions; The sources of the Legend of the Three Companions and its date; The image of St Francis presented by the Legend of the Three Companions; The Sacrum Commercium; 7. Visual images; The Pescia altar panel; The Pisa altar panel; The Assisi altar panel; The Bardi altar panel; Matthew Paris; Kalenderhane Camii; 8. The official image in speech and writing; Sermons; St Bonaventure; The Legenda Maior of St Bonaventure; The Miracles of St Francis; 9. The official visual image: the decoration of the Basilica; Introduction; The decoration of the Lower Church; The decoration of the Upper Church; The stained glass windows in the Upper Church; The decoration of apse and transepts; The north transept; Cimabue; The Four Evangelists; The decoration of the sanctuary walls; The decoration of the nave of the Upper Church; The St Francis cycle; Dating the decoration of the nave; Nicholas IV; 10. The rediscovery of St Francis's body; Excavations; Reconstruction of St Francis's interment; 11. Epilogue: Angela of Foligno's image of St Francis.