This picture is typical of Solimena’s consistent style. The composition is essentially baroque with the artist’s characteristic use of blackish shadows to enhance the three dimensional appearance of the composition. St. Francis of Assisi (c1182-1226) was one of the most frequently depicted figures in Medieval and Renaissance art. Details of his life were well documented and the dramatic nature of the appearance of the miraculous stigmata on his hands and feet, coupled with the wound at his side, made him a potent subject for artists depicting this extreme side of Christianity.

‍