Saint Francis of Paola
1659. Oil on canvas.Room 010A
The figure shown here is identifiable, by his habit and the disc bearing the word charitas, as Saint Francis of Paola (1416-1507). The painting is a companion-piece - sharing the same date, size and composition - to Saint Francis in Prayer, also in the Prado (P008207). Both are superb examples of the shift towards greater luminosity and a more varied use of colour characteristic of Zurbarán’s later years.