Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Louis of France Venerating an Image of the Virgin c. 1618

Guercino made this pen and ink drawing, Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Louis of France Venerating an Image of the Virgin, sometime in the 17th century. The Counter-Reformation context of Guercino’s Italy informs this study of religious devotion. At this time, the Catholic Church encouraged art that stirred piety and emotion, particularly within the established codes of gender and class. Here, Francis and Louis, men who represent humility and royalty respectively, kneel in reverence before the Virgin, signaling a unity of the social order under the Church. But, the absence of the Virgin’s image invites reflection. Is the blank space a void, or does it ask us to consider how images of the divine are formed by faith itself? What does it mean to place these male figures at the center of a devotional narrative? This drawing, with its stark contrast between the figures’ intense veneration and the absent icon, emphasizes the internal, emotional experience of faith, while prompting us to consider the power dynamics inherent in religious representation.