The Franciscan Saint Diego de Alcalá (1400-1463) used to take bread from the table of his convent to give to the poor. On being challenged by the guard, who asked to see what was carrying in his habit, the saint replied that they were roses, and the bread was miraculously transformed into flowers. This painting, featuring monumental figures of well-defined forms, was probably the work of Zurbarán, who had just set up in Madrid, and would have been intended for the attic of an altarpiece dedicated to the saint in the convent of the same name in Alcalá de Henares (Text drawn from cat. exp. Los Objetos Hablan, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2016, p. 35)