Life of St Francis by Benozzo Gozzoli

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Scene 7 from the Life of Saint Francis by Benozzo Gozzoli, with the episodes "Preaching to the Birds" and "the Blessing of Montefalco" are set in a real landscape depicted in minute detail. On the left, at the foot of the mountain, is Assisi with its castle and the imposing Convent Church of St. Francis, built only after the Saint’s death. 

Francis speaks to the birds (thirteen different species of which are portrayed here) while pointing to the sky to indicate that he is inspired in this act by God the Father. On the right-hand side of the panel, Montefalco, encircled by its town walls, forms the backdrop to the figures in the foreground. Francis, accompanied by his disciple, blesses four praying men, one of whom is recognisable as the Franciscan friar Jacopo (who commissioned the work) and, presumably, two members of the Calvi family who made several significant donations to the Church of St. Francis in Montefalco in the fifteenth century. This blessing is a reference to a local tradition and is not mentioned in any stories from the life of Saint Francis.