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The author explores Francis from three perspectives: biographical, psychological and aesthetic. His book is innovative because he understands Francis through our new science of psychology and through the beauty of Bellini's masterpiece St. Francis in the Desert, the painting shown on the cover of the book.

For a psychological understanding Waldron employs Carl Jung's theory of individuation: the steps taken by Francis to become his True Self. Waldron also employs Bellini's painting to shed light on St. Francis the mystic. Waldron also addresses Francis's poem The Canticle of the Creatures, offering an exegesis of the poem that also provides insights into the saint's life.