The Vision of the Blessed Clare of Rimini

Francesco da Rimini's Vision of the Blessed Clare of Rimini (c. 1336) at the National Gallery in London is a rare narrative panel from the Riminese school depicting a local mystic's ecstatic vision. Clare of Rimini was a Franciscan tertiary whose intense visionary experiences made her a focus of local devotion, and this painting likely served as part of a campaign for her beatification. The work exemplifies the Riminese school's distinctive contribution to Trecento painting, blending Giottesque spatial construction with a heightened emotional expressiveness rooted in Adriatic artistic traditions.

Rendered in egg tempera and gold leaf on panel, the painting displays the Riminese school's characteristic richness of color and fluid drapery modeling. The visionary scene is composed with careful attention to the spatial relationship between the earthly and celestial realms, using the gold ground to signify divine presence.