id: 142293 accession number: 1966.125 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1966.125 updated: 2023-03-22 14:08:02.722000 The Virgin and Child Appearing to Saint Francis of Assisi, 1680s. Luca Giordano (Italian, 1634–1705). Oil on canvas; framed: 273 x 229 x 10 cm (107 1/2 x 90 3/16 x 3 15/16 in.); unframed: 239.4 x 195.7 cm (94 1/4 x 77 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1966.125 title: The Virgin and Child Appearing to Saint Francis of Assisi title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1680s creation date earliest: 1680 creation date latest: 1689 current location: 217 Italian Baroque creditline: Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund copyright: --- culture: Italy, 17th century technique: oil on canvas department: European Painting and Sculpture collection: P - Italian 16th & 17th Century type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Luca Giordano (Italian, 1634–1705) - artist --- measurements: Framed: 273 x 229 x 10 cm (107 1/2 x 90 3/16 x 3 15/16 in.); Unframed: 239.4 x 195.7 cm (94 1/4 x 77 1/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: signed lower center: Jordanus F. translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Florence and the Arts: Five Centuries of Patronage opening date: 1971-07-13T04:00:00 Florence and the Arts: Five Centuries of Patronage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 13-September 19, 1971). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Private collection (Florence, Italy), sold through Heim Gallery (Paris, France), to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: This work represents the High Baroque tradition of illustrating the visions and ecstasies of holy figures. St. Francis stands to the right of the apparition of the Virgin and Child, while motioning to a mother with three young infants, a symbolic representation of Charity. A popular Italian saint, St. Francis of Assisi (1181?- 1226) was famed for his many holy visions and was reported to have received the stigmata, bodily punctures that echoed the crucifixion wounds of Christ. Close observation of the painting reveals that Giordano originally painted St. Francis motioning his hands towards the Virgin and Child, perhaps reaching for the Infant Christ. In the final version, however, St. Francis gestures to the figure of Charity, as a witness to the saint's spiritual vision. The saint thus serves as the intermediary for humankind, appealing to the Virgin and Child for the sake of Charity. St. Francis, the founder of the Franciscan order of monastics, dedicated his life to assisting the poor and remains one of the most popular Catholic saints. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. page number: Reproduced: p. 116 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n140 Ferrari, Oreste, and Giuseppe Scavizzi. Luca Giordano. Napoli, Italy: Edizioni scientifiche italiane, 1966. page number: Mentioned: p. 91-92, 94; Reproduced fig. 181 url: Lee, Sherman E. "Golden Anniversary Acquisitions." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LIII, no. 7 (September, 1966): 181-285. page number: Reproduced: p. 214; Mentioned: p. 279, no. 59 url: Young, M. S. “Letter from U.S.A: Great Guns at Detroit and Cleveland.” Apollo: The International Magazine for Collectors 84 (September 1966): 237–38. page number: Mentioned: P. 239-240; Reproduced: P. 241 url: "Accessions of American and Canadian Museums." The Art Quarterly XXIX, no. 3-4 (1966): 289-318. page number: Reproduced: P. 301 url: Lurie, Ann Tzeutschler. "Luca Giordano: The Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Francis of Assisi." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LV, no. 2 (February, 1968): 39-52. page number: Reproduced: cover, fig. 1 url: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. page number: Reproduced: p. 116 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n140 Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972. page number: Mentioned: p. 85, p. 398, p. 574 url: Trkulja, Silvia Meloni. "Luca Giordano a Firenze." Paragone: Mensile di Arte Figurativa e Letteratura XXIII, no. 267 (May 1972): 25-74. page number: Mentioned: P. 52, n. 51 url: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 140 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n160 The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. page number: Mentioned: p. 349; Reproduced: p. 350 url: Ferrari, Oreste, Luca Giordano, and Giuseppe Scavizzi. Luca Giordano: l'opera completa. Napoli, Italy: Electa, 1992. page number: Reproduced: p. 80 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.125/1966.125_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.125/1966.125_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.125/1966.125_full.tif