Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata (Louvre, INV 309)

A large panel painting in tempera and gold by Giotto di Bondone, dated to about 1295 to 1300, showing Francis of Assisi kneeling in prayer on Mount La Verna as he receives the stigmata, the wounds of Christ's crucifixion, from a six winged seraph bearing the crucified figure of Christ. Three smaller predella scenes beneath the main composition depict episodes from Francis's life: his confirmation of the Franciscan rule by Pope Honorius III, his sermon to the birds, and the posthumous appearance of his soul to Pope Gregory IX. Painted for the high altar of the Church of San Francesco in Pisa, the panel entered the Musée du Louvre in 1813 during the Napoleonic-era removals of art from Italy and has remained there since, one of the earliest and most influential painted images of Francis's central miracle.