Miraculous announcement of the birth of Saint John of Matha
1634 - 1635. Oil on canvas.On display elsewhere
This painting was part of the series of twelve canvases narrating the lives of Saint Felix of Valois and Saint John of Matha, founders of the Order of the Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives. It was painted in 1634 for the church of the Convent of los Trinitarios Descalzos in Madrid, where it was seen by Palomino, Ponz and Ceán Bermúdez.
The conception and execution of all Carducho’s narrative works, both religious and secular, appear effortless in their invention and composition, easily capturing the movement of all the characters on his large canvases. This clarity of the composition is the most successful aspect, a quality reinforced by the occasional presence of large architectural settings with simple (Urrea, J. in: Painters of the reign of Philip III, in the Museo Nacional del Prado, 1993, p. 56.).
