Michael Smither: St Francis in Ecstasy

This second painting of Saint Francis by Michael Smither depicts the patron saint of ecology – Smither’s favorite saint – in a state of ecstasy in the presence of nature. Like many NZ artists, Michael is strongly influenced by the landscape.

This painting is the second half of a diptych that also features Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata.  In both of these paintings, the saint is under divine influence, brought about in the first image directly by the deity, and in this painting by the lush presence of nature that surrounds him.

Once again, Saint Francis is placed in an oversized background.  Behind him rises a luxuriant growth of reeds, and at his feet are some enormous lily pads.  Once again, he is depicted lovingly but entirely without sentimentality – he is a small figure almost overwhelmed by his surroundings, his sandals lie beside him on the pier and his fingers and toes are culrled up in delight.

The pier on which Saint Francis sits in this painting is at the Brooklands Bowl Lake in New Plymouth, NZ.  There was a reason for that, and for the appearance of other elements of NZ landscape in Smither’s religious works.  The artist made it clear he was  “concerned with expressing a point of view, of painting into my own personal terms subject-matter that had already been done.”

This matter-of-fact depiction of the saint illustrates once again, Smither’s concern that these paintings should draw near to the local people viewing them:

“But I feel rather uncomfortable about the tradition of saints now in the Church because I feel they’re elevated to such a level that people think they can’t achieve the same levels.”

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art, christian, modern, Michael Smither, artist, Saint Francis, ecstasy, New Zealand, environment, conservation