Antique painting on copper, Italian school, 17th century - Saint Francis

A remarkable painting on copper depicting Saint Francis with a skull and the Holy Scriptures, Central Italian school, 17th century. There are a few minor paint losses, visible in the photograph, but otherwise it is in excellent condition. The painting most likely depicts Saint Francis of Assisi in meditation or prayer. The iconography, combining a monk or saint in a brown habit, a book (or the Holy Scriptures), and a skull, is characteristic of Saint Francis. The figure wears a brown Franciscan habit and has his hand on his chest. The presence of the skull is a classic memento mori, symbolizing meditation on death and the vanity of earthly life, a recurring theme in the iconography of Saint Francis in meditation. Similar works are common in Italian Baroque and Counter-Reformation painting (primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries), often attributed to regional schools or circles of painters renowned for this subject.