Saint Francis (Sint Franciscus)

About this artwork.

The tower of the Roman Catholic Church is decorated with a Saint Francis statue carved in red sandstone. The saint's right hand points to the crucifix surrounded by a halo, as if to say “faith in God”. 
 
Saint Francis (1182-1226), son of a rich cloth merchant in the Italian city of Assisi, founded the men's Order of Friars Minor or Mendicant monks in 1206. The monks were recognisable by their brown monk's habit with wide collar, bare feet and the cord around the waist, the three knots symbolising the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. 
 
When Francis died in 1226 he was widely revered, with the result that the legends about him grew rapidly. Among other things, it was claimed that wild animals became tame in his presence and obeyed him. The wolf at Francis' feet is therefore a direct reference to the legend in which a ferocious wolf terrorises the inhabitants of the Tuscan town of Gubbio, until Francis manages to make a peace pact with the animal. The other animals that surround him – pigeons and a deer – also symbolise miraculous events. Two years after his death, Francis was canonised.
 
A sculpture with such a pronounced Christian interpretation as this one on the Saint Francis church is exceptional in the city of Groningen.
  
Herman van Remmen, the maker of this statue, also made a series of statues of other saints for the interior of the church.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Herman van Remmen

• District
  Oosterparkwijk

• Year of creation
  1934

• Art type
  Art in / on a building, Wall sculpture

• Material
  Sandstone

• Dimensions
  2,15 m