View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Lake Forest College Publications Lake Forest College Lake Forest College Publications All-College Writing Contest 5-1-2008 Unity through Francis: Demonstrations of Franciscan Authority in the Animal Stories of the Saint Francis Altarpiece Sara Woodbury Lake Forest College Follow this and additional works at: http://publications.lakeforest.edu/allcollege_writing_contest Part of the Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture Commons Recommended Citation Woodbury, Sara, "Unity through Francis: Demonstrations of Franciscan Authority in the Animal Stories of the Saint Francis Altarpiece" (2008). All-College Writing Contest. http://publications.lakeforest.edu/allcollege_writing_contest/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Lake Forest College Publications. It has been accepted for inclusion in All-College Writing Contest by an authorized administrator of Lake Forest College Publications. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Saint Francis Altarpiece 1 Unity through Francis: Demonstrations of Franciscan Authority in the Animal Stories of the Saint Francis Altarpiece Sara Woodbury, Art 485 Image courtesy of the Web Gallery of Art (www.wga.hu) Saint Francis Altarpiece 2 The animal stories of Francis of Assisi are among the most recognizable images of the saint. Appearing on holy cards and garden statues, these animal narratives have come to represent a romantic, idealized relationship between humanity and nature.1 Francis’s animal stories, however, should not be regarded solely as sentimental, superfluous images. Rather, they should be recognized as a subject matter that has been adapted by artists, patrons, and cultural values to promote different agendas.