Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata

In 1224, two years before his death, Saint Francis received the stigmata - the five wounds of the crucified Christ - while praying on La Verna, a remote Tuscan mountain where he had withdrawn to fast. Giotto shows a six-winged, crucified angel appearing in the sky, golden rays striking the saint's hands, feet, and side, and sets the miracle in a rocky landscape with chapel and trees rendered as solid, inhabitable things rather than symbols. Signed by the painter and made for San Francesco in Pisa, the panel carries along its base a predella - a row of small scenes from the saint's life.