Spanish school of the 17th century.
"San Francisco".
Oil on panel.
With Dutch frame of the 18th century.
Presents restorations on the board. With Repainting.
Measurements: 33 x 24 cm; 65 x 55 cm (frame).

With a range of dark and ochre tones and an illumination of tenebrist inheritance in this devotional work the author tries to awake in the faithful the passion for the faith. To this end, he reduces the elements that make up the work to a minimum, reducing the scene to the long bust of the saint embracing a crucifix while observing the skull. The so-called "Stigmatization" took place in September 1224, on Mount Alvernia. St. Francis decided to have a hut built to isolate himself on that mountain, praying, with Friar Leon bringing him bread and water, a brother who witnessed several miracles, including the one recounted in this work. According to the narration of St. Bonaventure, the crucified Nazarene would have appeared to him, surrounded by six angelic wings, imprinting on the saint the signs of the Crucifixion on his hands, feet and side, wounds that he would keep for the rest of his life, trying to hide them from the sight of the people. St. Francis (Assisi, Italy, 1182 - 1226) was the son of a wealthy Italian merchant. Baptized as John, he soon became known as "Francesco" (the little Frenchman), because his mother came from that country. His youth was joyful and carefree until the age of twenty-five, when he changed completely and began to dedicate himself to the service of God, practicing the evangelical ideal: purity, detachment and joy in peace. Francesco renounces the great inheritance received from his parents and decides to live poorly, giving an example of authentic Christianity. He soon had several young disciples, called by the saint "order of the Friars Minor". In 1210, Pope Innocent III granted them the foundation of the new order and encouraged them in their evangelical tasks. During a retreat on the mountain, Christ appeared to him, and legend has it that from his wounds came rays that caused Francis various stigmata. He was a legendary character during his lifetime, considered a living relic. Likewise, his exquisite poetry and his familiarity with nature add the most human accent known in a saint, as can be appreciated in his "Canticle to the Sun".