St. Francis and six stories from his life

This dossal panel depicting Saint Francis flanked by six scenes from his life by Giunta Pisano is one of the earliest known painted representations of the saint, dating to around 1250, just two decades after Francis's canonization. Giunta Pisano was the leading painter in Pisa and one of the first Italian artists whose name is documented, and his work for Franciscan patrons helped establish the visual iconography of the new saint. The vita-icon format, adapted from Byzantine hagiographic panels, became the standard vehicle for Franciscan devotional imagery throughout the 13th century.

Executed in egg tempera on panel with gold ground, the central standing figure of Francis displays the elongated proportions and severe frontality of the Italo-Byzantine tradition. The surrounding narrative scenes demonstrate Giunta's compact storytelling style, with simplified architectural settings and expressive figural groupings arranged in a symmetrical grid format.