St. Francis believed that although the kingdom of heaven is everywhere, the Portiuncula – the chapel he famously rebuilt – was visited more frequently by heavenly spirits. The saint himself also experienced such visits. When St. Francis received the stigmata, a member of the seraphim appeared to him in a vision holding a crucified man between his wings. A depiction of this can be found in oil on canvas circa 1470 by France’s School of Amiens at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. On the other side of the piece is a depiction of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, illustrating the closeness of the two events.
The museum’s permanent collection also has an Italian sculpture of the Franciscan order’s coat of arms made of glazed terracotta and dating back to about 1525. The piece by Luca della Robbia the Younger depicts the right arm of Christ with the nail wound in His hand and the left arm of St. Francis with the stigmata wound in his hand and has a cross in the background on a shield. All of this is encircled with a wreath with grapes, fish and other biblical symbols of Christ’s life and sacrifice. The coat of arms is often depicted on the altar in sanctuaries of Franciscan churches or is engraved in plaques that represent the Franciscan order in institutions worldwide. It’s also incorporated into Bishop Martin’s episcopal coat of arms.