Saint Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, tames the ferocious man-eating Wolf of Gubbio: square detail of circa 1380 Life of St Francis fresco cycle by Sienese School painters Cristoforo di Bindoccio and Meo di Piero in the Chiesa di San Francesco or Church of St Francis at Pienza, Val d’Orcia, Tuscany, Italy.
Pienza, Val d’Orcia, Tuscany, Italy: Saint Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, tames the Wolf of Gubbio in this square detail of a circa 1380 AD Life of St Francis fresco cycle by two Sienese School artists who usually painted together. The Late Gothic panel in the Chiesa di San Francesco depicts an incident recorded in a 14th century Tuscan text. The Umbrian city of Gubbio was terrorised in about 1220 AD by a male wolf, whose attacks on livestock progressed to assaults on people. Eventually, it would eat nothing but humans, lying in wait for them outside the city gates. No weapon could hurt it and it ate everyone who tried to kill it. Against advice, Francis left the city to meet the wolf. It flew at him, jaws open, but then lay calmly at his feet, resting its head in his hands, as he made the sign of the cross and told “brother wolf” that if he would stop terrorising Gubbio, he would be fed by its citizens for the rest of his life. The wolf signalled its assent by placing a forepaw in Francis’ hand. When Francis returned with the wolf to Gubbio, townsfolk were astonished to see it behaving like a pet. In an impromptu sermon, Francis told them: “How much we ought to dread the jaws of hell, if the jaws of so small an animal as a wolf can make a whole city tremble through fear.” The tamed wolf again placed its paw in Francis’ hand. The wolf is said to have lived for another two years without attacking anyone. Gubbio’s citizens fed it as it loped from house to house and when it died, Francis buried it and later built a church on the site. In 1872, during renovation work, the skeleton of a large wolf, several centuries old, was found under a slab and was reburied in the church. This scene was painted by Sienese artists Cristoforo di Bindoccio, also known as Cristoforo Malabarba, and Meo di Piero. Their late-14th century artistic partnership has left a legacy of artworks in many central Italian churches.
Size: 2725px × 2725px
Location: Pienza, Val d’Orcia, Tuscany, Italy.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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