• Author: Taddeo Gaddi
• Date: 1335 – 1338 c.
• Collection: PAINTING
• Technique: Tempera and gold on wood panel
• Dimensions: 48 x 43,5 cm (with frame)
• Inventory: Inv. 1890 n. 8602

The painting belongs to a series of twenty-six polylobed panels and two half lunettes that decorated the rear of the pew that still stands in the sacristy of the Basilica of Santa Croce. Here they were arranged in two overlapping orders: the upper order with the Stories of Christ and the lower with the Stories of Saint Francis. The episodes were therefore to be read in parallel, in accordance with the concept of Francis as alter Christus, already formulated in the writings of Thomas of Celano and Bonaventure, early biographers of the Assisi saint.

The scene of the Stigmata of Saint Francis corresponded to the Crucifixion of Christ, thereby representing the sophisticated iconographic narrative of the entire complex, aimed at inspiring the friars to engage in prayer and contemplation within the vast space of the sacristy, which also served as a chapter house. At the time the panels were created, Taddeo Gaddi, a pupil of Giotto, was already renowned on the Florentine artistic scene and had worked for the Franciscan friars of Santa Croce, for whom he had created several works, including the cycle of frescoes depicting the Stories of the Virgin in the Baroncelli Chapel.

The scene of the Stigmatisation follows the prototype of a similar fresco by Giotto in the Upper Basilica of Assisi, with Christ’s features clearly identified and five golden rays linking his wounds to those of Francis.
When the Convent of Santa Croce was suppressed in 1810, the panels were removed from the rear of the pew and transferred first to the storage rooms of Saint Mark’s, and then to the Accademia di Belle Arti, the core of the newly established Galleria dell’Accademia.