Spanish school; 17th century.

Spanish school; XVII century.
"San Francisco de Paula".
Oil on canvas.
Presents restorations.
It conserves frame of epoch.
Measurements: 63.5 x 49 cm; 77.5 x 63 cm (frame).
Work of devotional character in which is represented San Francisco de Paula (Calabria, Italy, 1416-Tours, France, 1507). This saint was a hermit, founder of the Order of Minims and saint of the Catholic Church in the Italian region of Calabria. Legend has it that St. Francis became seriously ill of the eyes, reason for which his parents entrusted themselves to St. Francis, curing the eyes of their son. To be grateful for the miracle, at the age of fourteen he went on pilgrimage to Assisi, thus becoming a hermit. For five years he withdrew to the mountain, feeding only on water and wild herbs, sleeping on the hard ground, with a stone as a pillow. He was canonized in 1519, just twelve years after his death, during the pontificate of Pope Leo X. In the early years of the 16th century, the Order of the Minims entered Spain, acquiring great diffusion due to the values of Franciscan preaching that they spread, which, linked to the recent canonization of the saint and his way of life and poverty, had a very strong influence among the Spanish Christian population.