Giovanni Bellini’s "St. Francis in the Desert" is a masterpiece of Venetian Renaissance painting that has enthralled visitors to The Frick Collection for generations. The work is also profoundly mysterious, its beauty and depth of detail matched only by the enigma of the artist’s intentions. For centuries, viewers have puzzled over the painting’s meaning—seeking explanations in a variety of pictorial and textual sources. Until now, the artist’s practical conception and realization of this extraordinary picture have remained largely unexplored. The Frick is pleased to announce the publication of "In a New Light: Giovanni Bellini’s St. Francis in the Desert," which presents the collective findings of an unprecedented technical examination of St. Francis in the Desert and offers new understandings of its meaning through an examination of the artist’s process. In 2011, the results of the study were the subject of an acclaimed dossier exhibition of the same name. Published this month by the Frick in association with D Giles Limited, this highly anticipated and beautifully illustrated monograph is edited by Susannah Rutherglen and Charlotte Hale, with contributions by Denise Allen, Michael F. Cusato, O.F.M., Anne-Marie Eze, Raymond Carlson, and Joseph Godla and a foreword by Keith Christiansen.
