# The Ecstasy of St Francis [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [PIAZZETTA, Giovanni Battista]() - Date: 1701-1750 - Technique: Oil on canvas ## Commentary This is among Piazzetta's finest paintings and is also a masterpiece of eighteenth-century sacred art. The altarpiece \(which was originally in the church of S. Maria d'Aracoeli in Vicenza\) is composed along three parallel diagonals that cut across the composition from left to right. The most important section is in the centre where Piazzetta contrasts the luminous and robust figure of the wonderful angel with the lifeless, dark, and heavy figure of the fainting saint. The descriptive detail \(such as the scruffy wooden structure or the figure of Brother Leo with his back to us\) accentuate the feeling of isolation and intense mysticism. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="\#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 33 minutes\):<BR><A HREF="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/music1/18\_cent/haydn\_m\_mass.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true"><B>Michael Haydn: St Francis Mass</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE> ## Related artworks - [A Young Ensign]() - [Assumption of the Virgin]() - [Beggar Boy]() - [Christ Crucified between the Two Thieves]() - [Idyll at the Coast]() - [Judith and Holofernes]() - [Martyrdom of St James]() - [Martyrdom of St James]() - [Mucius Scaevola before King Porsenna]() - [Peasant Girl]() - [Rebecca at the Well]() - [Shepherd Boy]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()