In 370 the Consul Probus appointed Saint Ambrose governor of the provinces of Liguria and Emilia in northern Italy. Valdés Leal depicts this secular episode in an interior with classical architecture, thus creating a deliberate contrast with the Gothic architecture used for the other scenes in this series, which focus on the principal events in Ambrose’s religious life. The canvas is one of a series on the life of Saint Ambrose that Valdés Leal painted for Ambrosio de Spinola (1632-1684), Archbishop of Seville.