| author to portray a development in the stages of the life of St. Francis. Smart says that the position of the birds on the ground is a departure from the text of St. Bonaventura who describes them in bushes and trees.
The scene is consistent with earlier portrayals of this theme where Francis is with one other figure and stands in front of a natural looking tree. The hand movements of St. Francis is seen by Smart to relate to the St. Cecilia master more than Giotto, but other art historians seem to agree that this is a style of Giotto himself. The power of the composition is in its simplicity. It is clearly Franciscan, again identifiable to any observer, but it is enriched with the powerful sign language of Giotto.
There seems to be no chance to avoid at least the impression that Giotto had something to do with these works; both in the portrayal of the figures and in the novelty of the representation of perspective in the landscape and faux architecture framing the scenes. Samuel Y. Edgarton puts it in the most human way for he says:
"I cannot prove that our artist (Giotto) also painted some of the figurative scenes of St. Francis's life. |