Comparing Two Paintings of St. Francis

What do you see and notice in the The Stigmatization of St. Francis?

-- In this painting, there are hardly any vibrant colors (the church is the only thing with vibrant colors).

-- The painting doesn't look very realistic. For example the skin tones of the people are grey and not realistic, and Francis’s head is tilted at an unnatural angle that would never happen in real life.

-- St. Francis has a rope belt with a bunch of knots coming down the front. I wonder if this means something important because it is shown in most pictures of him.

-- There are a lot of birds staring at St. Francis. I’ve learned that he really liked animals, and here it shows. 

-- A lot of the birds are looking at St.Francis as if they understand the pain. The birds also draw your attention towards him.

-- There is a weird looking creature looking at Francis in a mean way!

-- The proportions are wrong. The trees are a lot smaller than St. Francis.

-- St. Francis is as large as the house and almost as large as the mountain.

What do you see and notice in Bellini's painting (St. Francis in the Desert)?

-- The man is looking towards the sky. Maybe he’s looking towards god.

-- I see a rabbit burrowed in the ground near St. Francis, just to get close to him. This symbolizes his connection with animals.

-- The rabbit is observing St. Francis, and God’s presence in St. Francis might have drawn the rabbit to him. Also, the tree is getting blown in the direction of St. Francis, similar to the rabbit.

-- It looks like the trees are bending over from the wind, which could show God’s presence in nature.

-- In this painting, the shepherd and all of the sheep may have been a symbol of God’s presence, because in the Bible they always talk about how God is a shepherd and the people are the sheep.

-- There is a bright light in the sky (in the upper lefthand corner of the painting).

What is a difference between the two paintings?

-- There's much more landscape in the Bellini painting.

-- There’s more detail in the second painting.

-- Bellini's painting tells more of a story.

-- Bellini was a lot better at showing distance and perspective than the person from the first painting.

-- In the first painting, Jesus is clearly visible, and he is giving the stigmata to St. Francis. In the second painting, you cannot see Jesus, so St Francis’ stigmatization is less dramatic and obvious.

What is a similarity between the two paintings?

-- In the first painting, the pink building is on a mountain or hill, and in the second painting the castle is on a hill.