Franciscan in Franceschina (1474)

Abstract

In this study we intend to pay close attention to the images, illuminations that appear in the text Franceschina, a work from the fifteenth century written by Giacomo Oddi, in which the vitae of Francis of Assisi and other “renowned people” of the Order of Friars Minor between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, are presented. The text in the Umbrian dialect has a simple, everyday language, as well as a dramatic and heroic character, referring in particular to the refusal of the world, the dedication to charitable and religious practices and the martyrdom of the brothers. Despite the simplicity of form and technique, these illuminations record and disseminate experiences, but seek to awaken a sensibility. In this case it is caused firstly, by a mystic representation and, secondly, by the exacerbation of violence suffered by the friars, showing the path of martyrdom as the main expression of exaltation of the minors after Francis death, in contrast to the early years of Franciscanism.