St Francis addresses the Sultan by Maestro Bardi

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St Francis of Assisi addressing the sultan - Detail of the altarpiece of San Francesco d'Assisi, painting by Maestro del San Francesco Bardi

The Master of the Bardi of Saint Francis was a Florentine artist named for a large panel on the altar of the Capella Badri in the Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence. In the Uffizi Gallery is also, Saint Francis Receives the Stigmata, and the artist has been given the attribution of the work, The Crucifix with eight stories from the Passion. Though this claim has been met with some reservation from critics who claim two separate artists had worked on the Saint Francis panels, and that The Crucifix piece may not have been created by either of them. (The Grove Dictionary of Art)

The works nonetheless share a Byzantine influence among other similar qualities to imply they are created by the same master. Vasari had claimed the work depicting Saint Francis was by Cimabue (1240 – 1302), who had executed other known works in the Santa Croce. Though most critics agree that while the work has Florentine qualities, and was completed before Giotto’s time (hence Cimabue), it is more closely associated to the Luccan School of the Berlinghieri or more so, with the master mosaics of the cupola of the Baptistery and with the early Florentine painter, Coppo di Marcolvaldo (1225 – 1276). (Kren and Marx, Web Gallery of Art)

St Francis of Assisi (ca 1181-1226) addressing the sultan - Detail of the altarpiece of San Francesco d'Assisi, painting by Maestro del San Francesco Bardi, Florentine school, first halfof the 13th century, Cappella Bardi - Florence, Santa Croce church (Photo by Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images)