The painting was in an unflattering frame and had a gilded background, not typical of Botticelli's work. It is thought now to have been employed by the artist to please his patron. The faces of the angels were the key to its identity as they corresponded to those in another Botticelli in the National Gallery. The rather glum portrayal of St Francis is in keeping with Botticelli's style of painting. So to is the manner in which the angels are piled vertically on either side of the central figure.
It was the quality of the painting that clinched the identification process; it was agreed by experts that it was simply too good to be a 'follower of Botticelli'. The St Francis painting was painted 10 years before Botticelli's most famous work, 'The Birth of Venus', at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
This is a most exciting find for the National Gallery. Botticelli (1445-1510) was a most individual Renaissance artist, although he was not fully appreciated until after his death. This particular painting was purchased by the first Director of the National Gallery, Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, in 1858. Its reattribution is a great credit to the level of scholarly expertise in the conservation and curatorial departments of the National.