The Funeral of Saint Francis of Assisi

Description A panel from the "predella," or illustrated base, of an altarpiece dedicated to Saint Francis, this image combines the funeral of the saint (died 1226) with his canonization, or declaration of sainthood, by Pope Gregory IX in 1228. The saint's body lies on a bier surrounded by a mourning crowd. The crowd includes fashionably dressed young men along with the lame and blind, who seek a miraculous cure by touching the saint's dead body. To the right, the seated pope writes the decree of canonization. The careful attention to fashion, vivid colors, and animated expressions are characteristic of the international, courtly trends encountered mostly in Northern Italy.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
12/31/1969	Examination	examined for condition
12/31/1969	Examination	examined for technical study
1/01/1945	Treatment	cleaned; coated; filled; inpainted; reconstructed; stabilized; varnish removed or reduced
3/27/2012	Examination	examined for loan

Exhibitions

• The International Style: The Arts in Europe Around 1400. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1962.
• God's Minstrel: St. Francis of Assisi. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1982.
• Sanctity Pictured: The Art of the Dominican and Franciscan Orders in Renaissance Italy. Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville. 2014-2015.

Provenance Charles Woodyat, Naples [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Charles Woodyat Sale, Tavazzi and Jandolo, Rome, April 15-19, 1912, no. 394 [as Benozzo Gozzoli]; A. S. Drey, Munich and New York [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, April 24, 1915, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1915