S. Franciscus. Signasti Domine servum tuum Franciscum signis redemptionis nostrae. ...
Unusually, the verses at the foot of the engraving comment on the manner of representation of the subject of the print: "Cur sese toties Franciscus in icone stipat? / Maiorem semel, at saepius ipse minor? / Nimirum, deerant facerent quae vulnera divum / Sese maiorem; nam fuit ante minor. / Nec solum semet maiore(m) vulnera divum, / At Christo reddunt mirius illa parem." Why does Francis cram himself so many times into the image, once on a large scale but more often smaller? Because of course he did not have the wounds which would make him a greater saint, for previously he was lesser. The wounds do not only make him a greater saint, more remarkably they render him equal to Christ. "Minor" also refers to the Friars Minor (the Franciscans)
