Saint Francis of Assisi receiving the stigmata between Saints Clare and Peter, Blessed Bartholomew of Breganze (?) and Saints Paul and Bernardine

The long board, which is believed to have been the predella of an altar-piece painted by Marcello Fogolino for the church of San Francesco Nuovo in Vicenza (now in Berlin), is one of the first masterpieces by the Vicenza master. It probably dates back to 1517-1518 and is slightly later than the painting in Berlin, in comparison with which it shows a considerable autonomy of invention.

The sacred episode depicted here shows Saint Francis receiving the stigmata in the presence of Saints Clare and Peter on the left, Paul and Bernardine on the right, while a monk kneels behind him who may perhaps be identified as Blessed Bartholomew of Breganze.

In the background of the miraculous event we see a wide view of Vicenza in the second decade of the sixteenth century. We can recognise the meadow of Campo Marzio and the course of the river Retrone which enters the town passing under the Furo bridge. Vicenza, seen from the south, appears enclosed by the city walls over which stands the tower of Porta Castello and is dominated by the Torre di Piazza, the tower standing behind the Basilica, shown here before the Palladian loggias were built. Fogolino adds other details: the sanctuary and convent of the Madonna of Monte Berico, the Vicenza Prealps and the Asiago Plateau, some ruins that call to mind the old Roman theatre of Berga and the Benedictine Abbey of San Felice. It is a peaceful country landscape, flooded with light, populated with lively and realistic figures: a horseman, two nuns, a wayfarer, a soldier and the artist himself, caught as he is intent on drawing near the city walls.

This meticulous narration of scenes from everyday life, which creates a close dialogue between this painting and the Adoration of the Magi, painted by Fogolino for the church of San Bartolomeo (Inv. A 34), is accompanied by other precise botanical details, such as the strawberry plant and the iris in the foreground which, corresponding to the figure of Christ, is a symbol of the divine message.