# The Vision of Saint Francis

- By: Federico Barocci (Italian, c. 1535-1612)
- Date: 1581
- Medium: Etching and engraving on ivory laid paper
- Classification: Print
- Dimensions: 53.8 × 32.4 cm (21 3/16 × 12 13/16 in.)
- Culture: Italy
- Credit line: Joseph Brooks Fair Fund
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/18679)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/f8fd79aa201188b13b7439eb884902da.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

In this dramatic etching, Saint Francis of Assisi kneels in an ecstatic trance, with his palms outstretched toward the vibrant holy host he envisions above him. This print reproduces the painted altarpiece that Federico Barocci completed in 1576 for the church of San Francesco, Urbino. The setting of the chapel in which the altarpiece still hangs is included in this composition. The print, though technically reproductive, transcends didactic repetition through the graphic zeal of Barocci’s etched line.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0