All Conquering Love of St Francis of Assisi

NICHOLAS ROERICH SPEAKS OF HIS CREATIVE PROCESS IN CREATING THIS PAINTING

Nicholas Roerich – extraordinary polymath – in his roles painter and writer – shared his inspiration for his painting St Francis of Assisi in a chapter entitled “Love Unconquerable” in his book, Realm of Light.

Roerich chose a moment when the birds were gathered around St Francis.

This choice was sparked by a reminiscence of his first art Teacher, Master Kuindzhi, a simple shepherd boy from the Crimea who became one of the most illustrious painters.

Roerich considered Kuindzhi not only a remarkable art teacher, but also a great Teacher of life.  Roerich wrote about Kuindzhi:

“His personal life was a secluded one and only his closest disciples knew the depth of his soul. At noon he climbed out on the roof of his house and after the daily noon signal of the cannon shot, thousands of birds gathered around him and he fed them from his hands—doves, sparrows, swallows and flocks of other city birds crowded around him, covering his shoulders, hands and head. He used to say to me: “Come closer, I will tell them they should not fear you.”

His students called him “Saint Francis” and Roerich said that:

“…the vision of this powerful gray-haired and smiling figure, covered by the birds in joyous twittering, shall forever remain one of my most cherished memories. I myself witnessed how crows and other birds of prey sat there without harming their small brothers.”

The unconquerable love that radiated from Kuindzhi attracted the multiformity of feathered, winged creatures and the depth of his love could hold them all in the sublime tension of right relationship. Communing with the birds, he could extend that openness of heart to his student in Nicholas Roerich, leaving an indelible impression that would result in a beautiful painting many years later.

Roerich said:

“This “Saint Francis” of my youth is inseparably linked with the Image of Saint Francis whom I later admired during my pilgrimages to the sanctuaries of Italy.”

Saint Francis as a world-wide magnet attracted adults and children alike, as well as animals and, of course, birds.  St Francis, through the radiance of his heart, communed and conversed with all. One thing he never did was condemn:

In His victorious non-condemnation, Saint Francis gave the summons to the greatest wisdom of life, which is easily achieved. Every worker, after sufficient experience, begins inevitably to realize how deadening are denial and condemnation and how creative and constructive is every understanding.

Roerich described St Francis’ power to “merge” with the Lord knowing of the power of  “prayer of heart” which alone teaches vital Love. For St Francis:

Love was not an abstraction but the daily nurture of his spirit.

Even if some of his actions were interpreted by his followers as protests against the imperfect customs of his contemporaries, yet these actions were so gentle and so saturated with benevolent symbols, that the protest ascended on the same wings of all-conquering Love.

To love means to forgive; to forgive means to understand; to understand means to know; to know means to approach the threshold of wisdom.

In addition to inspiring Roerich’s painting, Kuindzhi was an extraordinary innovator in the painting of light. His paintings radiate a metaphysical luminosity. Roerich’s mastery as a painter was his capacity to bring to light and render into the form of his paintings a living energy from the deeper dimensions of being. This shared service by these artists to manifest this subtle, metaphysical light into the form is simultaneously indicative of their exploration of the heart – known, in the Agni Yoga Teachings, as the realm of light.

Whether it’s communing with birds, revealing light through the stroke of a brush or expressing kindness to a stranger, all gestures radiating from the heart resound both near and far. Blessings to St Francis for his light, love and life.

At the end of Roerich’s chapter on “Love Unconquerable” he says to his readers:

“Let (St Francis’) ineffable spiritual refinement strengthen you! In the inspiration of Saint Francis you will find an ever new and inexhaustible creativeness. You will remember that even a genius must perform his daily labour untiringly. In the name of Saint Francis, you will find that radiant affirmation, which will protect you from deadly negation and destructive condemnation. In the name of Saint Francis you will find inexhaustible strength against all evils. You will understand the meaning of blessed cooperation and union. Create, create … and create!”

Further Information:
Realm of Light from the Nicholas Roerich Museum https://www.roerich.org/roerich-writings-realm-of-light.php
“Arkhip Kuindzhi – Master of Light” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vHzqq_7Sjc

Acknowledgements:
Gratitude to www.wikiart.org
for Nicholas Roerich’s painting of St Francis, 1931 and Arkhip Kuindzhi’s Daryal Pass Moonlight Night around 1895