St Francis

It’s on the north side of 31st Street, between 7th and 8th avenue, this statue of St. Francis of Assisi, you don’t have to enter the church, it’s outside, in an alcove. Hard to get an exact angle for a good camera shot, but we tried. Slightly larger than life, yet in a sort of cramped space. St. Francis was known for his love of nature and animals, which is why the beasts are depicted here—how many statues can boast their own pigeons? On his feast day in October, some churches host pet blessing services. He’s a fascinating historical figure, Francis of Assisi, a mystic, a stigmatist; after being disgusted by his experience as an army officer, he abandoned a life of privilege for a spiritual life of poverty, abstinence, meditation and preaching. According to his earliest biographer, during his life in the 13th century, he famously preached to non-human congregants: ‘Oh birds, my brothers and sisters, you have a great obligation to praise your Creator, who clothed you in feathers and gave you wings to fly with, provided you with pure air and cares for you without any worry on your part.” In Christian theology, as in Judaism and Islam, human beings are seen as exiles in nature, apart. But Francis, the patron saint of environmentalists, sees the human being as a steward of nature and as such, part of nature. It’s actually a big and old conflict between strains of Christianity and it’s not coincidence that Fundamentalist Christians are often the ones denying Global Warming and opposing Government Regulators like the EPA. Not many sculptors are inspired to make beautiful works of art about them are there?