A magnificent full-length fresco portrait of St. Francis of Assisi, protected under glass in St. Gregory's Chapel. It is labeled "Fr. Franciscus" and the saint is shown without the stigmata or a halo, indicating it was painted during his lifetime, before 1224. The Byzantine influence of the chapel's Roman painters can especially be seen in this portrait - Francis is shown facing front and with one eye larger than the other, recalling the famous icon of Christ at St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai.
Image credit: David Joyal.
