PIAZZETTA, Giovanni Battista
(b. 1682, Venezia, d. 1754, Venezia)

The Ecstasy of St Francis

1729
Oil on canvas
Pinacoteca Civica, Vicenza

This is among Piazzetta's finest paintings and is also a masterpiece of eighteenth-century sacred art. The altarpiece (which was originally in the church of S. Maria d'Aracoeli in Vicenza) is composed along three parallel diagonals that cut across the composition from left to right. The most important section is in the centre where Piazzetta contrasts the luminous and robust figure of the wonderful angel with the lifeless, dark, and heavy figure of the fainting saint. The descriptive detail (such as the scruffy wooden structure or the figure of Brother Leo with his back to us) accentuate the feeling of isolation and intense mysticism.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 33 minutes):
Michael Haydn: St Francis Mass