'Saint Francis of Assisi in His Tomb' is a 1634 painting by Francisco de Zurbarán where the saint is depicted holding a skull in his hands, that is a meditation on death, a spiritual exercise serving as a stark reminder of our human finitude, vanity & Christ’s crucifixion.

On Francis' deathbed, the song which he wrote praising God's creation ("Canticle of Brother Sun") was sung to comfort him. Francis then added this stanza on Sister Death for "it is she who is going to introduce me to eternal life."

The skull St. Francis is holding is a reminder of Christ's crucifixion site outside Jerusalem because the word Golgotha, from Biblical Greek Γολγοθά, is interpreted as a simplified pronunciation of Aramaic golgolta, corresponding to Hebrew gulgōlet, "skull" [1]

The skull serves like shadow mirror obscuring the saint's heavenwards face, like an umbra contoured by our inescapable mortality.

Saint Francis in Meditation ca.1635 by Francisco de Zurbarán.

The Mystic's Conquest

The longest
journey

is the journey
within

Saint Francis Kneeling in Meditation by Francisco de Zurbarán, 1635

St. Francis in meditation was a popular subject in 17th c. Spain, painted by Zurbarán over 40 times.

The saint's spiritual experience is expressed in differently ways: His upward gaze denotes his conversation with God, while his downward gaze reveals his spiritual interiority.

Zurbarán was a master of light and shadow (chiaroscuro) by the way he captures the flowing folds on the coarse brown texture of St. Francis' robe. The rope girdle has four knots, each representing a vow of poverty, chastity, obedience & bodily penance.

To accompany this thread on Zurbarán's St. Francis paintings, let us listen to the voce divina of Friar Alessandro @FriarAlessandro singing 'Fratello Sole Sorella Luna' from 'La voce da Assisi'. Enjoy!