Saint Francis Praying

In 1224 Saint Francis withdrew from Assisi to the mountain of La Verna where he began to fast. Early one morning his companion, Brother Leo, found him kneeling in a moonlit woods in prayer. Cigoli has significantly altered this incident by representing Saint Francis with the stigmata which he did not receive until later in his life. Cigoli painted two other very similar paintings of this subject, both monogrammed.