A wedding!
The bride and groom stand on a hill against a golden background, with the illustrious party gathered to the right and left. The groom is Saint Francis, founder of the Franciscan order, a monk and thus committed to celibacy. Nevertheless, his marriage is given the highest honour and grace, because it is initiated by Christ himself. But who is the bride?
The bride wears rags
In the ceiling painting, Giotto shows us the marriage of Saint Francis with the personification of poverty. Dressed in patched rags, belted with a rope like the members of the Franciscan mendicant order, and with hard facial features, Paupertas is clearly different from the other figures around her, who are all richly dressed – with the exception of the monk, of course, who wears the simple, dark robes of the order. Life in poverty, we are told here, is tough, full of deprivation, and yet desirable, because it leads to God. Like the heavenly host that appeared for the wedding, Paupertas also wears a halo that distinguishes her, and here she appears as a virtue in the Christian sense. The means of personification enables Giotto to illustrate the ideals of the order. Although the vow of poverty allegorised in the marriage ceremony is central, hope and charity are also important aspects of Franciscan piety. Their personifications Spes and Caritas also attend the marriage ceremony. Paupertas forms the connection between them and her bridegroom: she is turned towards Francis, who is just putting a ring on her finger, but her left hand points to the two theological virtues.
Apart from Paupertas, only the other two personifications Spes (hope) and Caritas (charity) are inscribed. Poverty even receives the honorary title ‘holy’, abbreviated by the S. for sancta before Paup[er]tas. While Spes blesses the marriage with her gesture, Caritas, written here with a K, offers the bride and groom her heart, representing love.
