The Ecstasy of Saint Francis

This arresting painting was first recorded in 1615 in the testamentary will of Claudio Scotti, maggiordomo to Cardinal Odoardo Farnese, in which Scotti bequeathed the painting upon his death to his patron. The will clearly describes it as a small copper of Saint Francis in Ecstasy by Annibale Carracci. After passing to Odoardo Farnese following Scotti’s death in 1616, the painting descended in the Farnese family, appearing in the inventories of Palazzo del Giardino, the ducal residence in Parma, in 1680 and again in 1708. Malvasia described it as ‘Un bellissimo rame con S. Francesco tramortito e sostenuto da un Angelo, con tre Angeletti in aria che lo mirano,’ (‘a beautiful copper with Saint Francis swooming and supported by an angel, with three little angels in the air who look down on him’) noting that it measured 45.5 x 34.1 cm. Thereafter, the picture remained undocumented.
Prior to the recent rediscovery of the present painting, the composition was known through four early copies (in Sheffield; Oxford; Dresden; and one sold at Christie’s London, 15 December 1989, lot 21); the present painting is Annibale’s original and the only version executed on copper.