Saint John of Capistrano
Second half of the XVII century. Oil on canvas.On display elsewhere
In this representation of Saint John of Capistrano, the painter has faithfully followed his traditional iconography. Dressed in a Franciscan habit with a red cross on it, he stands beneath a shining star. He holds a standard created by Saint Bernardino of Sienna—John of Capistrano was his disciple when he entered the Order of Saint Francis— with the nails of Christ´s crucifixion and his IHS monogram. An ottoman at his feet recalls his ardent sermons against the Turks, which decisively contributed to their defeat at the battle of Belgrade in 1456.
As frequently occurs in works by this artist, conventional elements drawn from the repertoire—in this case, the figures of defeated Turks and fleeing devils that symbolize heresy—are combined with details typical of his approach, such as the saint´s face or the cherubs´ heads in the upper left corner. Once again, he accentuates small still-life details such as the medallion hanging from the saint´s neck and, notwithstanding the differences, this clearly reflects his studies with Pereda.
Compositionally, this work can be considered parallel to Saint Rose of Viterbo (P5357). The fact that both canvases are the same size and both depict Franciscan saints suggests they may have been commissioned together for one of the Franciscan convents in Madrid that disappeared with the ecclesiastical disentailment of 1836. Moreover, the fact that Saint Rose of Viterbo is signed confirms the present work´s attribution to Alonso del Arco.
