“Patron Saints of Everyday Life. Great Saints for Today” is the title of the exhibition inaugurated at the Diocesan Museum of Siedlce. Twelve authentic masterpieces of art are on display, including a little-known painting by El Greco depicting The Ecstasy of Saint Francis. In the year marking the eight-hundredth anniversary of the death of the Poor Man of Assisi, the exhibition takes on a special character. The exhibition will be open until December 15, 2026.

I spoke about the exhibition with its co-curator, Professor Jerzy Miziołek from the University of Warsaw.

Professor, the title of the exhibition suggests it is about saints. According to what “code” did you select the displayed paintings?

We selected works of high artistic quality and, at the same time, aligned with the spirit of Saint Francis’s mysticism. Francis is powerfully present in the painting of this saint preserved in Siedlce. The exhibition includes an exceptional work by Pompeo Batoni – Saint Bartholomew; an image of Saint Bonaventure, author of a beautiful biography of the Poor Man of Assisi; paintings depicting visions of Saint John the Evangelist; a beautiful tondo by Luca Signorelli from the Sacra Conversazione in which Francis participates, and finally – alongside works by Guercino and Sebastiano Concha – a little-known image of Christ by El Greco. The paintings selected for the exhibition offer multiple points for reflection and an intellectual journey through numerous churches in Poland, Spain, and Italy. This is also facilitated by a comprehensive catalog.

What are the most important masterpieces on display and where do they come from?

The aforementioned image of Christ, splendidly juxtaposed with The Ecstasy of Saint Francis, has been loaned by the Vatican Pinacoteca; the previously mentioned tondo by Luca Signorelli comes from Prato; and Batoni’s masterpiece, as well as four other exquisite paintings – courtesy of Francesco Petrucci – come from the Museum of the Roman Baroque in Ariccia, near Rome. A look at The Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt by Marco Benefial (with the mystical presence of Saint John the Evangelist) leaves no doubt that it is a masterpiece, as is the Saint Jerome by Luca Giordano or the image of Fra Angelico by Carlo Dolci, on loan from the Museum of San Marco in Florence, where the artist brilliantly captured the spirituality behind so many of his magnificent religious paintings. This work is similar to Andrea Pozzo’s painting, The Virgin Mary Entrusting the Infant Jesus to Saint Stanislaus Kostka.

What was the goal of the exhibition’s curators? Is it an art history lesson or a lecture on hagiography?

As I have already mentioned, the objective is, on the one hand, to enter – as far as possible for us mere mortals – into the spirit of mysticism, and on the other, to bring to light the beauty of these hagiographical themes. Hence the selection of exceptional works, little known in Poland. The exhibition, along with its extensive catalog, is also a lecture on hagiography featuring the participation of the eminent hagiographer Andrzej Zając, OFM. The several dozen saints depicted in the displayed paintings, and the hundreds present in the catalog, are intended to lead us to understand the mystery of sainthood within the context of reflection on the names we bear, but also in the context of the words of Saint John Paul II, which, together with Saint Francis’s Canticle of the Sun, serve as a kind of motto for our exhibition. Here are the words of John Paul II: “Today’s world needs the holiness of Christians who, in the ordinary circumstances of family and professional life, fulfill their daily duties; who desire to accomplish the Creator’s will and serve others every day.”

The exhibition features El Greco’s painting The Ecstasy of Saint Francis, particularly significant in the year we celebrate the eight-hundredth anniversary of Saint Francis’s death. Not everyone knows that Poland possesses a masterpiece by this great painter. Could you trace the history of this painting?

The painting was discovered in 1964 during inventory work in the parish of Kosów Lacki, in Sokołów County, by art historians from the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Izabella Galicka and Hanna Sygietyńska, and their collaborator, photographer Witalis Wolny. In 1965, the first information about the discovery of El Greco’s painting was published in the “Bulletin of Art History”. However, it was only during restoration work in 1974 that its authenticity was confirmed. A signature was discovered at the bottom of the painting, under the skull. During the dark years of the Polish communist regime, the painting remained hidden. It has been on display in the collections of the Diocesan Museum of Siedlce only since 2004. This magnificent masterpiece, fascinating for its mystical message, has taken on a special splendor in the current exhibition.

There are several versions of this crucial moment in the saint’s life, when he becomes the first stigmatist in history. The Siedlce version presents a unique composition: instead of the Seraphic Christ, we see a mystical light and a clear representation of the stigmata on the saint’s hands.

The painting depicts Saint Francis in a state of mystical ecstasy, a direct consequence of receiving the stigmata, as indicated by the bleeding wounds on his hands. The saint is portrayed in profile, kneeling, turned three-quarters toward a light shining on the left. The light illuminates the ascetic face of the Poor Man of Assisi, distinguished by his fixed gaze upon the radiant light. The figure of Francis is – in keeping with the spirit of Mannerism – unnaturally slender, almost disembodied. The gesture of his outstretched arms symbolizes complete submission to the will of God.