Saint Francis by William Hart McNichols
William Hart McNichols (born July 10, 1949) is an American Catholic priest and renowned iconographer whose life has woven together faith, art, politics, and activism. Raised in a prominent Denver family—his father served as Colorado’s governor and his uncle as Denver’s mayor—McNichols grew up surrounded by the public responsibilities of government and the spiritual rhythm of Catholic life. As a child he even attended the 1960 Democratic National Convention, an early taste of the historical forces shaping his worldview.
His education led him through Catholic schools, Regis High School, and briefly Colorado State University before he entered the Jesuits in 1968. Over the next decade, he studied philosophy, theology, and art at institutions such as California College of the Arts, St. Louis University, Boston College, and Boston University, eventually earning a Master of Divinity from Weston School of Theology and an MFA from Pratt Institute. Ordained a priest in 1979, he taught art and theology, founded a high-school art department, and emerged as a passionate advocate for peace—publicly surrendering his draft card in 1971 in solidarity with young men being drafted during the Vietnam War.
McNichols’s artistic vocation crystallized in the 1990s when he moved to Albuquerque to study iconography under the Russian-American master Robert Lentz. This training shaped his signature approach: a fusion of traditional Byzantine iconographic principles with contemporary spiritual, social, and pastoral themes. His icons are marked by luminous color, elongated forms, and deep theological symbolism, yet they also feature a striking emotional immediacy—faces rendered with tenderness, suffering, resilience, or quiet fire.
McNichols’s style is contemplative yet bold, honoring ancient techniques such as egg tempera, gilding, and strict frontal composition, while embracing subjects that speak to modern woundedness, justice, and hope. In 1991, Cardinal James Stafford commissioned him to paint Our Lady of the New Advent, an icon so significant that it inspired the establishment of a new Marian feast day on December 16. Two years later, during World Youth Day in Denver, McNichols presented Pope John Paul II with Our Lady of the New Advent: The Burning Bush, now housed in the Vatican Museums. Over the decades, Time magazine has hailed him as “among the most famous creators of Christian iconic imagery in the world.”
He continued painting hundreds of icons for churches, universities, and communities worldwide. His large-scale work Viriditas: Finding God in All Things, unveiled at Loyola University Chicago in 2015, stands at an impressive five by ten feet, embodying his belief that grace radiates through all creation. As of 2020, he serves at St. Joseph on the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, continuing his intertwined life of pastoral care and sacred art.
Among McNichols’s distinctive works is an icon depicting Saint Francis of Assisi standing barefoot in the snow, a scene rendered in the artist’s characteristic blend of tenderness, austerity, and theological depth. The winter landscape reflects the raw Umbrian cold, and Francis appears shockingly underdressed: his habit frays into rags around his legs, leaving them exposed, while his bare feet press directly into the snow. His hands stretch upward in a posture of prayer and praise, embodying the Franciscan theme of perfect joy—the saint’s spiritual embrace of hardship, humility, and radical trust in God.
The composition shows McNichols’s mastery of emotional symbolism: the stark whiteness of the snow contrasts with the warm, iconographic glow around Francis’s figure, suggesting an inner fire that no earthly suffering can extinguish. Through such images, McNichols offers not only portraits of saints but meditations on the mystery of grace within human vulnerability—art that speaks with the ancient voice of iconography and with the contemporary heart of a modern seeker.
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This work is inspired by an original icon by William Hart McNichols. While the composition is closely related, my version includes several artistic modifications—such as adjustments to the posture of the hands and the placement of the Franciscan habit—to reflect my personal interpretation. The original image remains under copyright, while the digital image offered here is an independent artwork.
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