The Judgement of a Soul
1663 - 1664. Oil on canvas. Not on displayThe judgement of an individual soul is a subject rooted in popular religious theater. The oldest known depictions date from the 15th century and show an angel and a devil arguing over the possession of the soul in question as Christ and the Virgin look on. Here, however, the painter takes a different approach to what may be a concrete event. Five figures are arranged on two parallel but overlapping planes. The upper one has a gold background that probably alludes to the divinity of the figures appearing there: the Savior preparing to decide the soul’s fate, and the Virgin, who has interceded on the mortal’s behalf. Mary’s blue-and-brown robes recall the habit of the Carmel order, and she is accompanied by two attributes of the Immaculate Conception: the crown of stars and a crescent moon at her feet. The soul being judged appears at the center of the lower half, over a blue background with clouds, embodied by a kneeling, seminude young man who turns his eyes to Heaven in supplication. He is flanked by Saint Dominic of Guzmán and Saint Francis of Assisi, each wearing the habit of the orders they founded. On the left, Dominic holds the rosary he received from the Virgin, which must allude to the young man’s devotion to Mary. On the right, Francis holds a loaf of bread that may symbolize his charitable acts or perhaps the merits of fasting, which he practiced during his life. The painter divides the composition into upper and lower planes, with two crossing diagonal lines at whose ends he places the figures with postures that underline the effect. This very fine canvas was painted with a relaxed, precise and richly colored technique that recalls works by his teacher and collaborator, Carreño, but its human models can be found in other works by Cerezo.