St. Francis, Giotto and the Environment

St. Francis’ affinity for the environment influenced the artist Giotto (c.1270-1337) who revolutionized art history by including natural elements in his religious works. In this manner, Giotto portrayed sacred images on Earth, separating them definitively from their abstract, unapproachable representation in Byzantine art. Giotto’s works are distinctive because they portray daily life as blessed, thus demonstrating that the difference between the sacred and profane is minimal. 

Disseminating the new ideas of St. Francis visually was very effective, as the general populace was illiterate. Seeing frescoes reflecting their everyday lives in landscapes that were familiar, changed their way of thinking. The trees, plants, animals and rocky landscapes were suddenly perceived as gifts from the Creator to be used, enjoyed and respected. Giotto recognized that the variety of dramatic landscapes would provide spectacular visual interest in the works. The Umbria/Lazio/Tuscany regions of central Italy, where the Franciscan monasteries were located, are seismically active, geologically complex mountainous areas with faults, upthrusts, nappes and diverse lithologic deposits. By including the striking landforms, and portraying them accurately, Giotto allows us the opportunity to identify the types of rock in his frescoes and possibly even the exact location he depicted.

Giotto revolutionized art by taking Byzantine iconography and humanizing it. Following Francis’ lead, the Nativity thus became a natural event. Using elementary perspective techniques, he was able to compose a sacred scene that appeared similar to a person’s daily life.  In this way, the viewer had a direct experience with the miraculous, allowing him to internalize the supernatural event and ultimately transfigure his human consciousness into a vessel for the divine. Note Halley's Comet in the background.

Giotto's frescoes illustrating the life of St. Francis are in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. Here, artists such as Cimabue and Duccio worked on these frescoes, making this church the epicenter of the revolution in art history, changing from the Byzantine to the Renaissance.

Some 750 years after the saint’s death, on 29 November 1979, Pope John Paul II declared Saint Francis the Patron Saint of Ecology. Successive Popes continued to use St. Francis as a model in their public comments over the years:

"…not to behave like dissident predators where nature is concerned, but to assume responsibility for it, taking all care so that everything stays healthy and integrated, so as to offer a welcoming and friendly environment even to those who succeed us." 

"As a friend of the poor who was loved by God's creatures, Saint Francis invited all of creation – animals, plants, natural forces, even Brother Sun and Sister Moon – to give honor and praise to the Lord. The poor man of Assisi gives us striking witness that when we are at peace with God we are better able to devote ourselves to building up that peace with all creation which is inseparable from peace among all peoples." 

 "It is my hope that the inspiration of Saint Francis will help us to keep ever alive a sense of 'fraternity' with all those good and beautiful things which Almighty God has created." 

“St. Francis teaches us that, the world of God and the world of nature are one."