FRENCH SCHOOL - late 18th century The death of Saint Francis of Assisi. Oil on canvas 40 x 31 cm Re-backed. Giovanni Francesco Bernardone, also known as "Povorello" (the little poor man), was born in Assisi, Italy, in 1182. Born into a wealthy merchant family, he began restoring ruined churches in his youth, and practiced charity among lepers. In 1208, having been disinherited by his father, Francis of Assisi heard a voice telling him to be all-whole in the service of God, and to live in poverty. Gradually, he built up a group of a dozen companions, forming the beginnings of the Franciscan order, which received the blessing of Pope Innocent III after 1209. It was not until 1223, however, that the Franciscan order received its final rule approved by Pope Honorius III. The following year, Francis d'Asisse received the stigmata of crucifixion. Marked by suffering at the end of his life and almost blind, he composed his "Canticle of Creatures". On October 3, 1226, Francis of Assisi breathed his last in the chapel of the Transito (now part of the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi). He was canonized by Pope Gregory IX in 1228.