Venetian-cretan School, 16th Century, Saint Francis In Meditation 

Venetian-Cretan school, 16th century

Saint Francis in meditation 

Tempera and gold on table, cm 40 x 31 

The term Venetian-Cretan school refers to an important painting school, also known as Post-Bizantina school, which flourished on the island of Crete under the control of the Serenissima between 1204 and 1669. Thanks to this political situation, particularly after the fall of Constantinople, the island of Crete was the main artistic centre of Greek-Christian culture from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century. In this environment, a particular pictorial style developed that was marked by both the tradition and the movements of Byzantine origin and the remnants connected to the Latin visual culture. After the Ottoman occupation of the island, the center of Greek painting moved to the west on the Ionian Islands, which remained under the control of the Serenissima until the Napoleonic Wars. 

In this beautiful gold background where Byzantine tradition and remnants of European visual culture coexist and blend harmoniously is represented a Saint Francis in prayer with the crucifix. Behind it is the massif of the Verna, where, according to sacred texts, he received his stigmata. The iconographic theme of Saint Francis in prayer or of Saint Francis receiving the stigmata is very common in the artistic production of the Veneto-Cretan school. 

At the ends, the table shows traces of the bolo, a reddish material used for the application of gold leaf: this allows us to better understand the pictorial techniques used by the masters of the Veneto-Cretan school.