작품 상세

Viceregal School. Peru. 18th century. “Mystical Union of Saint Francis Xavier and the Divinity” Oil on canvas. Relined. 163 x 100 cm. Of precious and exquisite craftsmanship, this work represents the mystical union between Saint Francis Xavier and the divinity, reflected here in Jesus with a scepter —placing His right hand over His heart— and the Navarrese saint who responds with the same gesture, “in his inflamed love,” as an answer and reflection of the love received. He offers his winged heart, which flies toward Him, and the lily on his arm, a symbol of his chastity and the total dedication of his life through his vows. And although Mary does not appear in person (in other parallel works she does), she is symbolically present on the horizon of the painting, in that Hortus Conclusus, through three Lauretan litanies that symbolize virtues of the Virgin: “like a fair olive tree in the plain” (peace, fruitfulness); “like a cypress” (incorruptibility, firmness against sin, longevity, and spiritual elevation toward heaven); and “like a cedar of Lebanon” (steadfastness). A completely vertical scene unfolds in a room with a covered table and drapery, opening onto the firmament, while the saint writes and looks upward, typical of his iconography. He drafts his letters, of which more than 138 autograph ones are preserved and more than 220 are lost or known through the accounts of others, as he contemplates Jesus in the sky, surrounded by clouds, perhaps addressing to Him one of his most famous and well-known prayers: “I love You; and I do not love You because You will save me… You, You, my Jesus, have set my whole being aflame upon the Cross.” At the saint’s feet we see his worldly renunciations (the golden crown, a reflection of human power and glory) and his ecclesiastical renunciations: the episcopal tiara and the cardinal’s hat, which speak of the Jesuits’ vows of humility, by which upon professing they renounce becoming “ecclesiastical dignitaries such as bishops or cardinals,” although by their fourth vow they may come to be appointed in service to the Church, to which they are bound. A saint of great devotion from the very beginning. Saint Francis Xavier is a priest of the Society of Jesus, evangelizer of India, born in Navarre. He is one of the first companions of Saint Ignatius of Loyola who, moved by the ardor to spread the Gospel, diligently proclaimed Christ among countless peoples of India, in the Moluccas and other nearby islands, ending in Japan. He converted many to the faith and finally died (1552) on the island of Sancian, in China, worn out by illness and labors, as the Roman Martyrology recounts. This image, like so many others, was very common in colonial painting and was often inspired by some European engraving, mainly Flemish, adapting the details. Specifically, in this work, the Flemish engraving by Paulus Pontius from the sixteenth century is adapted. Another distinctive feature of Peruvian painting is also highlighted here: the abundant application of very realistic jewels on the brooches, the necklace, and the saint’s belt, as well as the birds perched on the branches of the trees in the background, symbolizing paradise, heaven, or the divine presence, spiritualization, and the voices of God, Andean elements integrated into Christian iconography. In short, a work intended for a devotee of the saint, for a church, for the catechesis of a Jesuit recounting his history as a missionary, for a professed house or formation center of the Society of Jesus, for the devotion of novices and those in training, and which seeks, in its evangelizing aim, to inspire faith and devotion as sources of spiritual power. Colonial Spanish America.