SAINT FRANCIS IN PRAYER
Artist Antonio del Castillo y Saavedra Córdoba, 1616 – Córdoba, 1668
Date ca. 1650
Object type painting Medium, technique oil on canvas Dimensions 171 × 120.5 cm Inventory number 97.7
Collection Old Master Paintings
On view Museum of Fine Arts, First Floor, European Art 1600–1700 and British Painting 1600–1800, Cabinet 4
Saint Francis is one of the penitent saints; this depiction of him, deeply immersed in prayer and atonement, perfectly conveys the religious ardour of the Counter-Reformation. The apostle of poverty and love was painted in this manner on several occasions by Castillo, the founder of the Córdoba school of painting. The artist preferred a limited palette of colours, and in his works he tended to use greenish and brownish shades of grey, as in this lyrically toned work, which exhorts the viewer to meditation and self-reflection. According to some sources, Castillo often worked outdoors, drawing directly after nature. He almost certainly utilised some of these drawings to create the landscape details in this painting.
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