Work belonging to a series of six paintings, commissioned by the Society of Jesus for the church of its Novitiate in Madrid, on the occasion of the canonization of Juan Francisco de Regis, the first French Jesuit raised to the altars, in 1737. The commission was carried out by Father Pierre Daubenton, confessor of Philip V.

Knowledge of Houasse´s work was not limited to the palace environment. Although these are fairly conventional compositions, their public exhibition around 1722 brought Madrid artists up to date with the French canonical aesthetics of the turn of the century, concerned with correct drawing and harmonious intonation. Furthermore, Houasse undertook a task that must have been exemplary to his Spanish colleagues: he had some of the scenes he had painted for the palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso recorded.

Aterido Fernández, Ángel, El final del Siglo de Oro: la pintura en Madrid en el cambio dinástico 1685-1726, Madrid, Coll & Cortés, CSIC, 2015, p.99