Saint Francis in the Desert by Giovanni Bellini

Francis steps barefoot from his cave, arms open, face lifted, and the whole landscape answers. Bellini painted him around 1478. Some scholars think this is the moment he receives the stigmata, the wounds of Christ, even though there is no angel in sight; others think he is singing his hymn to Brother Sun. Henry Clay Frick bought it in 1915 for $170,000 and hung it in his living room. Frick Collection, New York.