New! Francis Receives the Stigmata – by José Benlliure y Gil – Beautiful Catholic Art

Francis is Given the Wounds of Christ

St. Francis received the stigmata, the five wounds of Christ. Around 1320, the Franciscan monks wrote down the story, which you can find online. It’s from the Considerations of the Stigmata, part 3, from the Little Flowers of Francis. Here’s an excerpt for you.

“the fervor of his devotion grew so intensely within him that he was completely transformed into Jesus through love and compassion ... he saw a seraph descend from heaven with six radiant wings of fire ... it presented the image of a crucified man... At this vision, Saint Francis was deeply troubled, yet simultaneously filled with joy, sorrow, and wonder....

Christ told Francis, “I have given you the gift of the wounds, which are the signs of my passion, so that you may be my standard-bearer. And just as I on the day of my death went down to limbo and brought out of it all the souls I found there by virtue of these my wounds, in the same way I grant you that every year, on the day of your death, you go to purgatory and bring out of it, by the virtue of your wounds, all the souls you find there of your three Orders...”

José Benlliure y Gil (1855–1937), was a Spanish painter of a huge reputation and prolific output. Famous all over Europe, he became head of the Spanish Academy of Fine Arts for 10 years. He was commissioned by the Franciscan Order of Valencia to do a Life of St Francis series for the 700th anniversary of Francis’s entry into Heaven. He composed 70 paintings for it, finishing in 1926. They are all painted with gouache mixed with charcoal on Whatman English paper. Most are monochrome. This is one of the most colorful ones of the series. (source: marianobenlliure.org)

** IMPORTANT ** THE IMAGE IS SMALLER THAN THE PAPER! There is a blank border around the image. Approximately 0.5" wide for 5x7, 1.3" for 8.5x11, 1.6" for 11x14, and 1.75" for 13x17 and 16x20. For the two poster sizes, 18x24 and 24x36, we use 0.5" borders. We do this because the ratio of the rectangle of the art almost never matches the rectangle of the paper, and if it did happen to match one size, it would not match the others. Most fine art printers do this because otherwise they’d have to crop the art or warp it to make it fit the paper. The border looks good. It gives the picture a faux matted appearance.

There is almost always a little more border either on the left-right sides, or the top-bottom, depending on whether the ratio of the art is wider or taller than the paper.

We make Archival Quality fine art prints:

– Acid-free paper

– Archival pigments

– Cardboard backer for sizes 11x14 and less.

– Above story of the art

– Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal-clear bag.

– Rated to last 200+ years without fading if kept dry and out of the direct sun.

Thanks for your interest!

+JMJ+

Sue & John

Lincoln, Nebraska

“In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art.”

~ St. Pope John Paul II

Original image is out-of-copyright. Descriptive text and any image alterations (hence the whole new image) © by www.CatholicArtAndJewelry.com. I guess some of our competitors, who copy and paste our text, are like some of my English students who honestly don't comprehend that writing an essay is different from copying+pasting one or using AI. Funny world. God bless us all.