San Gabriel Cholula. Francis disrobes

In a previous post we looked at two cloister murals at San Gabriel depicting key scenes from the life of St. Francis: his conversion, and the presentation of the Franciscan Rule to the Pope. 

A third, closely related fresco in the sequence portrays Francis disrobing before Bishop Guido of Assisi, as his well dressed parents look on in evident shock.  
   With miter and episcopal crook, the sympathetic Bishop is seated on a sumptuous throne with a “song scroll” arm—a pose almost identical to the Presentation scene.  
   Although the mural is dated 1530, it was almost certainly completed later. 

text © 2017 Richard D. Perry. color image courtesy of Robert Jackson