‘I was always scared to death of him, to be honest’: In search of the real St Francis of Assisi

William Cook explores the sites and artworks that inspired the National Gallery’s upcoming show about the enigmatic founder of the Franciscan order

Vita-retable of Saint Francis, mid-13th century (Photographic archive of the Sacred Convent of San Francesco in Assisi, Italy)

Outside an ancient church in Rivotorto, a village in rural Umbria, the director of London’s National Gallery Gabriele Finaldi is telling a group of journalists (including your own agnostic correspondent) about St Francis of Assisi – one of the holiest men who ever lived. “This is the very origin of the community of Franciscans,” he tells us, as we step inside.

Who was St Francis? And what does he signify today? His meaning has shifted through the centuries, appropriated by every creed. For the liberation theologists of South America, he’s a champion of the downtrodden. For Mussolini, he was a nationalistic icon, “the most saintly of Italians, the most Italian of saints”. For lukewarm Anglicans like me, he’s more like a cross between Friar Tuck and Doctor Dolittle: a nice man who’s kind to animals, a friendly figure from a nursery tale. So why is Finaldi so keen on him? And why has he brought us here?