The episodes from the life of Saint Ambrose were commissioned from Juan de Valdés Leal (1622-1690) by Ambrosio Ignacio Spínola y Guzmán (1632-1684), Archbishop of Seville, for his private oratory. They are markedly specular in nature given that the saint and archbishop share the same name, ecclesiastical rank and connections with northern Italy. The series was conceived by Spínola as a model of exemplary behaviour to the extent that the settings evoke the streets and churches of Seville and the saint’s features are those of the archbishop.

The Emperor Theodosius (4th century AD) prostrates himself before the Bishop of Milan, who absolves him in front of the cathedral and thus allows him to enter. The buildings are vaguely inspired by the architecture of Seville while some of the figures are portraits.

The series remind us of an aspect of the art of this period that is sometimes overlooked, namely that painting was an essentially narrative language which, with regard to the type considered superior at the time, had the purpose of recounting a story. This was frequently a sequential or serial narrative, which is sometimes difficult to appreciate today as many of these series have been broken up.