Andalusian school; XIX century. Lot n° 35

Andalusian school; 19th century. "Saint Francis of Paula". Oil on canvas. Measurements: 59 x 50 cm; 71 x 61 cm (frame). Saint Francis of Paula (1416-1507) was an Italian hermit, founder of the Order of the Minims. At a very young age he began his life as a hermit on the outskirts of his native town of Paula. Gradually he became famous for his wonders, and around 1450 there was already a group of followers around him. His community grew, and in 1470 the Congregation of Hermits (the future Order of Minims) received diocesan approval from the archbishop of Consenza. Four years later, Pope Sixtus IV granted them pontifical approval. In 1483, Francis of Paola went to France by order of the Pope and at the request of King Louis XI. There he carried out some diplomatic work on behalf of the Holy See, while at the same time trying to obtain its approval for a Rule for his congregation, which he finally achieved in 1493. Until his death, Francis of Paola enjoyed the support and protection of the French monarchs, and a few years after his death, processes for his canonisation were initiated in Calabria, Tourse and Amiens, in which numerous witnesses to his life and miracles testified. He was finally beatified in 1513 and canonised in 1519. The iconography of this saint is abundant. The best known effigy, which has inspired many painters, is the one by Jean Bourdichon, a French painter who was a contemporary of Francis of Paola. In it, the saint is depicted in the habit, an old man with a grave face and a thick grey beard, leaning on a simple staff. The 17th century saw the arrival of the Baroque in the Andalusian school, with the triumph of naturalism over Mannerist idealism, a loose style and many other aesthetic liberties. At this time the school reached its greatest splendour, both in terms of the quality of its works and the primordial status of Sevillian Baroque painting. Thus, during the transition to the Baroque period, we find Juan del Castillo, Antonio Mohedano and Francisco Herrera el Viejo, whose works already display the rapid brushstrokes and crude realism of the style, and Juan de Roelas, who introduced Venetian colourism. The middle of the century saw the fullness of the period, with figures such as Zurbarán, a young Alonso Cano and Velázquez. Finally, in the last third of the century we find Murillo and Valdés Leal, founders in 1660 of an Academy where many of the painters active during the first quarter of the 18th century were trained, such as Meneses Osorio, Sebastián Gómez, Lucas Valdés and others.