| From the Portfolio of 6 Estampes in color, Hand-signed. Published for the 50e anniversario di sacerdozio di Monsignor Onofrio Giglio . 19 Dicembre 1943 18 Dicembre 1993. Incredible printing on thick glossy paper
Episodes from the Life of Saint Francis of Paola is a series of six paintings on silk by South African artist Gabriel Meiring. These works are located inside the Church of Saint Francis of Paola in the municipality of San Giuseppe Jato, Sicily.
The contemporary artist Gabriel Meiring created a series of silk paintings, currently housed in the Church of San Francesco di Paola in San Giuseppe Jato (Palermo), illustrating key moments from the saint's life. The artwork focuses on his famous miracles and his deep spirituality. These biographical episodes, depicted in art and traditional accounts, include the following moments: The miracle of crossing the Strait of Messina: According to tradition, a Calabrian boatman refused to take the Saint and his friars aboard because they could not pay the fare. Saint Francis knelt in prayer, laid his cloak upon the water, stepped onto it with his companions, and used it as a boat, steering with his staff. The resurrection of the lamb "Martinello": The Saint kept a pet lamb that was accidentally killed and eaten by workers building the convent. When the workers threw the bones and scraps into the furnace fire, Saint Francis called the animal, and it emerged from the flames completely unharmed and alive. The ordeal by fire: Because his deeds and spiritual rigor attracted vast crowds, Pope Sixtus IV sent emissaries to investigate him. To prove the authenticity of his faith and divine protection, Francis scooped up burning coals with his bare hands without suffering any burns. Vocation and penance: Born in Paola in 1416, he felt a powerful ascetic calling from a very young age and retreated into a cave to lead a life of prayer, fasting, and penance, later founding the Order of Minims. The episode of the mule's horseshoes: During a journey, a blacksmith demanded payment for shoeing the Saint's donkey. Francis ordered the horseshoes to fall off the animal's hooves, returning them to the blacksmith who had demanded the money. |
