Jacopone da Todi (1236-1306), probably next to
Dante and Guinicelli the greatest poet which Italy has produced, praised
the transcendent love of God in ecstatic verses. He was the religious
counterpart of the troubadours; his passionate devotion to the child
Jesus, the Madonna and the Crucified, eclipses their most ardent lyrics.
These southerners could not forgo the visible emblems of their religion;
the infinitely simple principle that only he who calls nothing his own,
and desires no earthly goods, is perfectly free, and can never fall foul
of his neighbour, was, if not lived up to, at any rate understood and
respected. The grateful hearts of the people surrounded the name of St.
Francis with legends; the study of his life inspired Giotto, the father
of the new art, to the study of plant and animal life. The story of St.
Francis is written on the walls of the cathedral at Assisi, the first
monumental work of Italian art.
St. Francis re-lived the terrestrial life of Jesus; in one direction he
excelled his model, for though the love of Christ embraced all mankind,
the heart of St.
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