English: Francesca (1384-1440) was a Roman abbess famous for her mystical visions, of which she left a written account. This panel, together with three others now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and at the National Gallery in Prague (Czech Republic), probably framed a portrait of her placed at her tomb in the Church of Santa Maria Nova near the Roman Forum. The painting, which stood behind a small altar, was executed most likely in 1445, when the case of the mystic's canonization was presented before the pope.

Shown here is a vision that Francesca had at Christmas 1432 and which she described, referring to herself in the third person, as follows: "St. Peter vested himself as a bishop to celebrate the Sacrifice, and he washed and purified the handmaid of Christ in that fountain of mercy, and afterwards he gave her the most holy sacrament of the Body of Christ. And St. Paul and St. Benedict served St. Peter in the celebration of the mass, and the blessed Magdalene assisted at the office, for so it was the divine will, that there should be three witnesses thereat. And when the mass was done, blessed Peter consecrated the handmaid of Christ. . . ."

St. Peter, first bishop of Rome, is depicted twice, with a papal crown. Paul is holding the sword by which, according to legend, he died at the hands of the pagans.