A devotional painting

A gonfalone (religious standard) was a typically devotional work of art, whose elements were carefully chosen in every detail. Namely: in the upper part, a divine environment had to be shown; in the middle, the mediator saints; below, the faithful in prayer.

Structure

On the painted canvas of the Standard of Justice, the divine role in the upper part is played by Virgin Mary, seated upon the clouds, with the Infant Jesus in her arms. On her left and right sides, two angels are praying. Both their eyes and Mary´s look at the characters in the lower part, with an expression full of love. Their more specifically watch two kneeling figures set in the central area of the canvas: the Saints Francis of Assisi (left) and Bernardine of Siena (right). They both reciprocate Mary´s looks. Saint Francis, moreover, shows with his left hand the group of faithful in prayer.

Below them, in the background, the faithful are divided by gender: women on the right, men on the left. Some of them wear elegant clothes; some, white garments, and a hood of the same color. They indicate the different kinds of membership in the brotherhood.

Finally, the town of Perugia provides the general background. We can easily recognize the Palace of Priors with its squat bell tower; the Holy Angel´s Gate (i.e. Michael´s) on the far left of the painting, along with the many towers that characterized the town during the Middle Ages. Perugia is seen in perspective from Montemorcino Vecchio, the hill where the first Benedictine Olivetan monastery rose.