Saint Francis before the Sultan

Saint Francis before the Sultan, in the National Gallery London, depicts the episode in which Francis traveled to Egypt during the Fifth Crusade and presented himself before Sultan al-Kamil in 1219, proposing a trial by fire to demonstrate the truth of Christianity. The Sultan, by legend, was so impressed by Francis's courage that he allowed him to preach and sent him back safely. Sassetta renders this encounter between Christianity and Islam with the quiet dignity and clarity characteristic of the finest Sienese narrative painting.

Sassetta presents the encounter as a formal meeting of two courts—Francis and his companion on one side, the sultan and his courtiers on the other—in a simple architectural setting. The Sultan's court is distinguished from the Franciscan party by elaborately decorated robes and headdresses, Sassetta using costume to mark religious and cultural difference without caricature.