Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index



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  • Title: Announcement of Death to St. Fina
  • Creator: Ghirlandaio, Domenico, painter
  • Description: Fina is the patron saint of San Giminano. She was born to an impoverished family and devoted herself to an ascetic lifestyle. At the age of ten, she fell ill and suffered self-imposed hardships for five years before dying on the feast day of St. Gregory, 1253. Legend says that before she died, Gregory the Great appeared to her in a vision and announced her imminent death. In this fresco, Fina is lying on the oak board she chose as a bed during her illness and is looking at the vision of St. Gregory floating in a mandorla encircled by cherubs. Despite the paralysis brought on by her sickness, Fina raises her hands in prayer and thanks. There are references to other parts of St. Fina’s legend in the fresco, such as the rats under her table and bed, which were said to have gnawed on her flesh while she lay ill. In addition to the rats, there are flowers on her board that were said to have miraculously bloomed below her corpse. Also, there are two townswomen who refer to the time before Gregory’s visit and the time afterwards; the woman sitting in the chair is Bonaventura who cared for Fina following her mother’s death, and the other woman, Beldia, supported Fina’s head for eight days following Gregory’s proclamation, which can be seen in the fresco.
  • Source: Wikimedia Commons
  • Rights: Public domain
  • Subject (See Also): Death Fina of San Gimignano, Saint Gregory I the Great, Pope, Saint Hagiography Women in Religion
  • Geographic Area: Italy
  • Century: 15
  • Date: 1477-1478
  • Related Work: Obsequies of St. Fina. See the Feminae record:http://inpress.lib.uiowa.edu/feminae/DetailsPage.aspx?Feminae_ID=30921
  • Current Location: San Gimignano, Church of the Collegiata, Chapel of St. Fina
  • Original Location: San Gimignano, Church of the Collegiata, Chapel of St. Fina
  • Artistic Type (Category): Digital Images; Paintings
  • Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Frescoes
  • Donor:
  • Height/Width/Length(cm): //
  • Inscription: PARATA ESTO FILIA DIES SOLENNITATIS/ MEAE AD NOSTRUM ES VENTURA CONSORTIUM CUM/ SPONSO TVO PRENNITER IN GLORIA PERMANSURA
  • Related Resources: Linda A. Koch, The Portrayal of Female Sainthood in Renaissance San Gimignano: Ghirlandio's Frescoes of Santa Fina's Legend, Artibus et Historiae 19, 38 ( 1998): Pages 143 - 170.