Author's Note:This is my response to how this art piece inspired me. When Saint Francis of Assisi is looking down at the skull, questioning himself and his life, many things went through my mind while looking at it. The thought of death and how we humans can’t escape the notion of it can be intimidating.
Staring down, pondering what will be decided of your fate. The dark tomb walls stare you down fiercely while you trouble your seemingly worthless mind. The struggle remains, which is superior between life and death. There is no escape from death’s grasp pulling you toward the end. You know it will soon be over. Many people fear what mortality will bring to them, easily being the most feared concept during one’s life. In the painting Saint Francis of Assisi in His Tomb by Francisco de Zurbarán, it is presenting a picture where Saint Francis of Assisi is contemplating his entire life, with many things flowing through his mind. Was it worth it? What is next? What is in it for me? One will never know the truth of what death will bring to a human, and becomes the ultimate fear in the world.
Death is such a dreaded topic for any human to think about. No one knows where they’ll go, or whether or not there is life after death. So many things are questioned by us humans in all these aspects, yet will never be discovered until it is experienced. In Saint Francis of Assisi in His Tomb, Francisco de Zurbarán is endeavoring to express the difficulty in choice during the final decision, before you take your last breath. Life becoming questionable, identifying the value of existence. Time seems to slow down, waiting for you to reach a verdict. What seems so incomprehensible eventually becomes completely understandable once death finally persuades you to join it.
The inspiration brought by this painting may be because of many reasons, but its symbolism is probably the most probable reason. In Saint Francis of Assisi in His Tomb it is clear to see that Saint Francis of Assisi is in his tomb, hence the title and the background color. A tomb in this case symbolizes not only death, but captivity after death, releasing the thought of being trapped eternally in such a small object as itself. However, the part of the painting that I question the most is the skull in his hand. There are several ideas that come to mind when pondering it, making it difficult to focus on one. My main interpretation of this is that he is contemplating what he should do: live or die. The hands symbolizing what you’ve done and the skull symbolizing death; many theoretical ideas can be created with these two objects combined. Aside from specific details, the extreme darkness portrayed in the painting is not really explaining an individual story in itself, but plainly the thought of how demoralizing the situation taking place is. The end of life as it is, no one sure of what is to become of themselves.
There is no idea feared more than death only because it is what decides our fate and ends our life. The entire feeling of this is shown in the painting Saint Francis of Assisi in his Tomb by Francisco de Zurbarán. Saint Francis of Assisi is knowledgeable of the fact that he will die in the near future, and seems to have no intention of escaping it. The concept of mortality remains a horrifying thought, yet must be dealt with by all humans at some point in time.
