Tempera on panel
The Louvre

Below the main scene are three others: The Vision of Pope Innocent III, The Pope Receiving the Statutes of the Order, St. Francis Preaching to the Birds. In his vision, according to chapter 58 of Ugolino of Montegiorgio's Fioretto di San Francesco, Francis appeared to the pope and assured him that the story of his having received the stigmata was true. The Fioretto also tells of Francis' preaching to the birds, as does the Golden Legend. The Pope's approval of the statutes is in the Legend but not in Ugolino.

More of St. Francis of Assisi