Saint Francis Receiving the Christ Child in the Presence of the Virgin

This unusual depiction of Saint Francis cradling the infant Christ with the Virgin Mary hovering above is not found in early accounts of the saint’s life. Curiously, one early biographer did include a vision of the infant Christ being handed to a friar, but that friar is Francis’s companion. Only centuries later, when this etching was made, do we see Saint Francis with Jesus in his arms. Saint Francis is, however, known for initiating the display of the crèche at Christmas, so this alteration of the original story is not entirely without context. Francis’s reliance on emotional connection over scholarly learning, and his belief that all men have equal access to God, made him particularly suitable to this era of Catholic Church reform. The church was seeking to encourage continued faith with a more accessible approach emphasizing the sensual and the spiritual. Pietro Faccini’s etching is executed with a distinctively light and varied touch that is well suited to the mystical vision that is portrayed.