This picture is likely to be a late work as it is closely related to a dated painting of The Immaculate Conception in the Louvre, Paris. The narrow format of the panel suggests that it formed a part of a much larger altarpiece, and could well be a wing, as it is too small for anything but a very small devotional picture. St. Dominic (1170-1221) was the founder of the Dominican Order of Friars. During his lifetime, he gained considerable fame for his role in the crusade against the Albigensian heresy in the South of France, which he tried to quell by persuasion, rather than the violence which later ensued. St. Francis of Assisi (c1182-1226) was the founder of the Franciscan Order of Friars. The two Saints, contemporaries, but of entirely different temperaments, are shown embracing with the Holy Rays emanating from St. Francis’ stigmata, which miraculously appeared two years before his death. The Saints are associated in Christian hagiography as they are both reputed to have provided support for the Roman Basilica of S. Giovanni Laterano. The Pope, Innocent III, had the vision that the venerable building, his seat in his capacity of Bishop of Rome, was on the verge of collapse, and both Saints (they are interchangeable in the story) saved the building by propping it up. They had met at the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215.

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