Castilian Anonymous. Late 16th century. Lot n° 22

Castilian Anonymous. Late 16th century. “Apparition of Christ to St. Ignatius / Vision of the Storta “ Oil on panel. 282 x 220 cm. Our composition derives from the engraving by Cornelis Galle I (1576-1650) "The Vision of the Storta" dated 1610. (PESSCA 2439A. https://colonialart.org/artworks/2439a/ The Apparition of Christ to St. Ignatius is a classic scene within Ignatian iconography. The panel presents one of the key moments that decided the vocation of the founder of the Jesuits, a miracle that occurred in November 1537 when he was on his way to Rome with his companions Pedro Fabro and Diego de Laínez, to serve Pope Paul III. At a certain moment he entered the small chapel of La Storta to pray in solitude. According to his own testimony, he had a vision in which he contemplated God the Father and Christ with the cross on his back, at the same time hearing some words that he would consider confirmatory of his mission: "Ego vobis Romae propitius ero" ("I will be propitious to you in Rome"). At that time Ignatius was only a pilgrim who intended to travel with his companions to the Holy Land, however the situation of the Mediterranean, controlled by the Ottoman Empire, and the aforementioned supernatural experience led him to become a man of government and founder in the Vatican City. The entire story can be followed in this curious panel composed of four well-differentiated planes: the upper is dominated by an opening onto heaven, presided over by God the Father and the Holy Spirit, and the lower one is divided into three zones: in the foreground is the main scene, the appearance of Christ with the cross on his back – on the horizontal board of the cross appear the words that were addressed to St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits: "Ego vobis Romae propitius ero", and in the background, on the sides, are the city of Rome and the Navarrese saint’s companions. St. Ignatius, whose face shows his true features, is depicted as kneeling and with his hands in prayer. Christ, who appears with the stigmata, looks at him and points out a city to him with his right hand, in other words, telling him to travel to Rome. The almost dancing position of Christ's wounded feet indicates that this painting still displays a strong Mannerist component, and the way the Eternal Father is painted and the general colouring lead us to the same conclusion. Between Christ and St. Ignatius we find a missal and two attributes that allude to his character as a pilgrim, the staff and the hat. The whole scene seems to unfold among dilapidated architecture in which two pieces of column are scattered. In the background, in another ruin, we find the companions of San Ignacio, Pedro Fabro and Diego de Laínez, recognizable by their Jesuit cassocks, waiting for him while they wield the pilgrim's staff and wear hats on their heads. As we already indicated, at the top we find God the Father dressed in a voluminous pink mantle moving in the wind, characterized with a forked, white beard and crowned with a triangle. In his left hand he carries the cruciferous orb while with the right he points to St. Ignatius. This bust of God the Father is placed on a circle full of rays in the centre of which appears the dove of the Holy Spirit. The painting stands out because of its careful composition and for the preponderance of line over colour, although this is wisely applied. The general colour is of quite cold and dull tones, so that it contrasts markedly with the powerful red of the mantle that Christ wears. The master who executed this painting is clumsy when it comes to conceiving the volumes and perspective, although this does not detract from the final result. It is probably a Castilian painting of the late sixteenth century, or perhaps a little earlier, since at that time the panel went into disuse, being replaced wholesale by the canvas. Besides, according to Isabel Mateo's point of view, it could be possible that the painting was a colonial work. In fact, as she notes, there are various series on the apparition of Christ to Saint Ignatius. Among them is that in Tepotzotlán and also, that in Manresa. The enormous presence of the Trinity appears in the second part of the Saint’s Spiritual Exercises. In the series at Manresa the scene of the apparition of Christ to Saint Ignatius appears with an inscription. The classical ruins must have been inspired by an engraving, because they also appear in a Nativity scene by Juan Corre