Semiotics of the Franciscan Tau: Semiotic Embodiment in the Chartula of St. Francis

This essay delves into the semiotic dimensions inherent in the Chartula—the handwritten prayer, blessing, and drawing composed by St. Francis of Assisi for Brother Leo—, relating its visual characteristics and some themes and figures featured in the hagiographies by Thomas Celano. The analysis shows that the franciscan culture is characterized by a set of visual themes and signs that are coherently interrelated and that find a recurring expression in a plurality of texts, shaping an imagery that is still alive today. The combination of the red tau symbol and Brother Leo’s red annotations creates a visually striking composition. In this stratified text, the red ink, contrasting with the black of Francis’s original text, functions not merely as an explanatory paratext but as a visual reliquary that frames and elevates the sacred nature of Francis’s words. Brother Leo’s additions do not replace the original text; rather, they authenticate and enhance its authority, so that the written word and the visual elements result deeply interrelated, creating a complex set of embodied resonances.