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Premium Viceregal School. 18th century.
Viceregal School. 18th century.
Lot no. 76
Description
Viceregal School. 18th century.
'Mystical Union of Saint Francis Xavier and the Divinity”
Oil on canvas.
69 x 45.5 cm.
Exquisitely executed, this work depicts the mystical union between Saint Francis Xavier and the Divinity, represented here by Jesus alongside His mother Mary, who extends her arm to offer him a lily—symbol of his chastity and his devoted love for the Virgin. The saint, born in Navarre, offers them his winged heart, aflame with love, flying upwards in an act of total surrender.
The scene, entirely vertical in composition, is interrupted on the right by a kneeling angel who gazes directly at the viewer, inviting reflection, while reading his vows—marking a moment of profound commitment. The saint, looking upwards in the characteristic pose of his iconography, contemplates the Virgin and her Son in the heavens, surrounded by clouds.
At the saint’s feet lie his worldly renunciations: a golden crown, symbolising earthly power and glory, and ecclesiastical renunciations represented by the cardinal’s hat—referring to the Jesuit vow that rejects ecclesiastical honours such as bishoprics or cardinalates.
This saint has been deeply venerated since early times. Saint Francis Xavier was a Jesuit priest and missionary to India, born in Navarre, and one of the first companions of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Moved by zeal to spread the Gospel, he tirelessly proclaimed Christ across countless regions of India, the Moluccas, and other nearby islands, ultimately reaching Japan. After a lifetime of missionary journeys and conversions, he died in 1552 on the island of Shangchuan (San Xon), China, consumed by illness and hardship, as recorded in the Roman Martyrology.
Images like this were very common in colonial painting and were often based on European engravings, especially Flemish ones, with locally adapted details. In this particular work, the composition is derived from a Flemish engraving by Paulus Pontius from 1629, adapted here for a painted format.
Flemish influence is also evident in the floral garland that frames the entire scene—a genre that flourished in the Low Countries in both the Flemish and Dutch schools, as well as in certain Italian regions. The carefully arranged flowers and leaves serve to frame and mystify the moment. Among them are roses, peonies, carnations, wallflowers, daffodils, lilies, tulips, irises, and other blooms—some common, some native to Peru—many of them copied from various paintings.
A distinctive feature of Cusco painting visible in this piece is the generous application of gold leaf: in the saint’s collar and belt, the crown at his feet, the angel’s starry cloak, and the richly embroidered garments of Jesus and Mary.
In short, this is a devotional work, likely created for a church, a Jesuit catechetical setting, a professed house or formation centre of the Society of Jesus, or for the private veneration of novices and trainees. It is a painting meant to inspire faith and devotion as sources of spiritual strength.
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