The Stigmatization of Saint Francis c. 1325 - 1330

Curator: Taddeo Gaddi's "The Stigmatization of Saint Francis," residing here at the Harvard Art Museums, presents a pivotal moment in the saint's life. Editor: It's all sort of... angular. Like a beautiful but slightly unsettling dream. Curator: The gold leaf background, the stylized landscape, and the use of tempera on panel point to its origins in the late medieval workshop tradition. Editor: I see Saint Francis, kneeling with such fervent expression. And the seraph, a radiant red figure, is like a bolt of divine energy. It's so emotionally charged. Curator: The artist’s patron would have understood the symbolic language - a commentary on faith, suffering, and divine intervention, made physical through costly materials. Editor: It makes you wonder about the hands that held this, the eyes that gazed at it centuries ago. It's powerful, like a whispered secret from the past. Curator: Exactly. The work transcends its materials, provoking reflection on the circumstances of its creation, the labor involved, and its message. Editor: Yes, now when I look at it, I can also feel the time. It's the weight of history, the artist’s intention, and my own connection to it.