Saint Francis in the Desert
c. 1475–1480 · Oil on panel · The Frick Collection, New York
📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.
About this work
- Artist
- Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430–1516)
- Year
- c. 1475–1480
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Original size
- 124.6 × 142 cm
- Collection
- The Frick Collection, New York
- Movement
- Renaissance
Saint Francis steps barefoot from his rocky hermitage into a flood of light, arms spread and face lifted towards the upper left, in a wide landscape of pale rock, green fields and a hill town; beside his cell stand a reading desk with a book and a skull, a vine-covered arbour and a water spout, and a donkey, a heron and a rabbit share the scene. Bellini painted the large panel in Venice in about 1475–1480, in oil and tempera, and signed it IOANNES BELLINVS on a small creased tag. The moment is often read as Francis receiving the stigmata on Mount La Verna, though no seraph is shown, and the light alone carries the miracle. It was commissioned by the Venetian Zuan Michiel and was owned by Taddeo Contarini by 1525. The painting is among the most extensive landscapes of the Italian Renaissance. It was exhibited at the Manchester Art Treasures exhibition in 1857, and Henry Clay Frick bought it in 1915; it hangs in the Frick Collection, New York.
This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A barefoot friar stepping into golden light before pale cliffs, a small donkey and a hill town, in sage, cream and honey tones, for a study, living room or reading corner at 24×36 in natural wood. A sage, cream or pale stone wall; it pairs with The Hay Wain.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Renaissance painting
- Era
- 15th century (c. 1475–1480)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cream & beige
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- living room, study or library, dining room, dorm room, hallway or entryway
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Saint Francis in the Desert in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Saint Francis in the Desert painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
