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St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata : Slapton, Northamptonshire (‡Peterborough). Late C.14/Early C.15

Photo:T.Marshall
St. Francis receiving the Stigmata, Slapton (125KB)Images of St. Francis of Assisi in the English Church are extremely rare. He is preaching to the birds at Wissington, and there is said to be a (later) painting of him at Little Kimble in Buckinghamshire, but apart from these I know of no others. According to Frank Kendon (Bibliography) there were 8 in 1883. This image, which probably dates from the 15th century, shows him receiving the Stigmata during his vision on Mount Averna in 1224:
“...as he was praying on a slope of the mountain, lo, he beheld a seraph with six wings resplendent with fire...When with his exceedingly swift flight he arrived in the air at a point near the man of God, the image of a crucified man appeared behind the wings...soon thereafter the signs of nails, as he had seen them an instant before on the image of the crucified man, began to appear on his hands and feet. On his right side, he had the red scar of a wound as though he had been pierced by a lance.”¹
There are no wings visible here, and the image is a straightforward one of Christ on the Cross at the left, with black (probably once another colour) lines still partly discernible radiating from the crucified figure and meeting Francis at the various points on his body where his Stigmata appeared. A deliberate decision was probably made to simplify the iconography to avoid confusion, because there is some evidence from literature to suggest that a crucified figure with wings could be and was misinterpreted in the English Middle Ages.²

I do not know of any specific Franciscan connection with Slapton, but the immediate context for this and the other 15th century paintings there is the upsurge of lay piety in the period. The Slapton Mass of St. Gregory or Image of Pity is also one of the less commonly found examples of this.
The many other paintings at Slapton include the Annunciation, the Weighing of Souls, St. Christopher, the Suicide of Judas, the Warning against Idle Gossip and St. Eloi shoeing the possessed horse.

¹Quoted here from The Life and Times of St. Francis, A.Ghilardi, trs S. Attanasio, Hamlyn, 1967. No specific reference is given, but this account is probably taken from one of the early biographies of Francis.
²For example an anti-Franciscan satire, no.59 in RT Davies, Medieval English Lyrics, Faber, 1966.

St. Andrew Martyred, Stoke Dry, Rutland St. Anne teaching the Virgin to read-Corby Glen, Lincolnshire St. Antony and the Pig, Barton, Cambridgeshire St. Barbara : Hessett, Suffolk St. Bartholomew : Selling, Kent St.Catherine of Alexandria, life of : Castor, Cambs St.Catherine of Alexandria : Hardley Street, Norfolk
St.Catherine of Alexandria : Old Weston, Northants St.Catherine of Alexandria : Pickering, N. Yorks St.Catherine of Alexandria, life of : Sporle, Norfolk St. Clement : South Leigh, Oxon. St. Dunstan holding the Devil by the nose : Barton, Cambs St.Edmund : Boxford, Suffolk St. Edmund : Lakenheath, Suffolk
St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Bishopsbourne, Kent St.Edmund, Martyrdom of : Fritton, Norfolk St. Edmund (or St. Walstan) : Gisleham, Norfolk St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Pickering, N.Yorks St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Stoke Dry, Rutland St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Troston, Suffolk St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Weare Giffard, Devon
St.Eloi, Broughton, Bucks St. Eloi and the possessed horse, Slapton, Northants St. Eloi, as bishop & blacksmith, Wensley, N.Yorks St.Erasmus, Martyrdom of : Chippenham, Cambs St. Etheldreda : Willingham, Cambs St.Francis Preaching to the Birds : Wissington, Suffolk St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, Slapton, Northants
St. George & Dragon : Banningham, Norfolk St. George & Dragon : Broughton, Bucks St. George & Dragon : Earl Stonham, Suffolk St. George & Dragon : Fritton, Norfolk St. George & Dragon : Hornton, Oxon St. George dedicating himself to the Virgin : Astbury, Cheshire St. George, with the princess : Little Kimble, Bucks
St.Helena, Broughton, Bucks St. Hubert, Miracle of : Idsworth, Hants St.James the Great : Hales, Norfolk Life of St. James, Stoke Orchard, Gloucestershire St. James the Great, meeting pilgrims : Wisborough Green, Sussex St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Heydon, Norfolk
St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Idsworth, Hampshire St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Old Weston, Northants Life of St. John the Baptist : Cerne Abbas, Dorset NEW St. John the Evangelist, Selling, Kent St. John the Evangelist, Weston Longville, Norfolk St. Margaret of Antioch : Old Weston, Northants St. Margaret and the dragon : South Newington, Oxfordshire NEW
St. Margaret of Antioch Martyred, Stoke Dry, Rutland St. Margaret of Antioch, Life of : Charlwood, Surrey Life of St. Margaret, Wendens Ambo, Essex St. Martin dividing his cloak, Chalgrave, Beds St. Martin dividing his cloak, Wareham, Dorset St.Nicholas of Myra, life of : Little Horwood, Bucks St. Nicholas of Myra, two miracles of : Wissington, Suffolk
St.Paul : Black Bourton, Oxon St. Paul : Beckley, Oxon St. Peter : Beckley, Oxon St.Peter : Black Bourton, Oxon St. Peter, Martyrdom of : Chacombe, Northants St. Roch : Pinvin, Worcs St. Sexburga? : Willingham, Cambs
St. Stephen, Stoning of: Black Bourton, Oxon St. Stephen, Stoning of: Catfield, Norfolk St.Swithun (?) enthroned : Old Weston, Northants Scenes from the life of St. Swithun : Corhampton, Hampshire NEW St. Thomas Becket, blessing, Hauxton, Cambs. St. Thomas Becket, Murder of, Marston Magna, Somerset St.Thomas Becket, Murder of : South Burlingham, Norfolk
St. Thomas Becket, Murder of : South Newington, Oxfordshire St. Walstan of Bawburgh? or St. Edmund : Gisleham, Norfolk St. Zita : Horley, Oxon St. Zita : Shorthampton, Oxon Unidentified female saint : Heydon

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22/2/01