Saint Francis (2019) Tekening door Edwin Loftus

This depicts Saint Francis and the Wolf, one of the most recognized Franciscan miracles. A fierce wolf had been hunting and attacking livestock and people in a district Francis was visiting. Francis put his faith in God and went out to confront the wolf. The wolf became tame in Francis's presence.
The Roman Catholic Church has a system of verification prior to recognizing sainthood, though what was the rigor of that verification has changed over the centuries, and a number of once popular saints have been removed from recognition in more modern times.
In many other sects of Christian belief, the similarity of the role of saints to that of pagan gods and the principal of the need for intercession has led to a rejection of this whole category of belief. But some of these saints have earned popularity beyond Roman Catholicism, due to respect, as in the Case of the modern Saint Theresa, and the ancient that is symbolic of something deemed worthy, like the kindness to animals quality of Saint Francis, who is often depicted accompanied by birds or by this wolf.
Humanity's relationship with animals has been uncertain throughout our known history and modern thought is not necessarily any more laudable than ancient or prehistoric approaches.
One of the worst beliefs, was the Logical Positivist (and other modernist philosophies also embraced this), that because animal thoughts, emotions, and physical experiences cannot be scientifically measured, they don't exist. In this view, animals are like biological machines with no thoughts, only instincts. This was a philosophical conclusion, not a scientific one and fortunately it has been rejected in most human societies ... but far from all and far from completely rejected in any of them.
A modern reaction of similarly dubious value inspires many, "Animal Rights," movements, seeking to ban keeping and harvesting animals for their meat, and other bi-products and services, like companionship. Somewhere between these two extremes is where I think that someday, we may find the proper balance, but I lean more to the Animal Rights side than the positivist's.
So, this is not just a depiction of a Catholic Saint. It is a meditation stimulant regarding the whole range of issues related to the interface of humanity and animals. I do not expect a resolution of this by the world's civilizations, because humans are animals and we need first to resolve what is the proper treatment of human beings before we can decide how or whether, different rules should apply to other animals.

This image includes many elements drawn from Medieval styles in art; the poses, the rocks that form the wolf's lair, the bones indicated its dangerousness and the portraits of patrons in the lower corners, this time, myself and my dear wife, Cynthia, who makes producing these things possible.

Verwante thema's

Saint FrancisPositivismAnimal RightsHuman Rights