Spanish school; 17th century.

Spanish school; XVII century.
"Saint Nicholas of Tolentino".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It presents Repainting and restorations on the pictorial surface.
Measurements: 166 x 103 cm; 183 x 110 cm (frame).
Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (Italy, 1245 - 1305) was a priest, catholic mystic and first saint of the Order of Saint Augustine. He entered the Order of Augustinian Hermits in 1456, was ordained a priest in 1269 and then dedicated his life to the apostolate in Tolentino, devoting most of his time to the care of the sick and the needy, as well as to meditation and prayer, leading an ascetic life. He is considered the protector of the souls in Purgatory and intercessor for justice, motherhood, childhood and health. Regarding his iconography, this saint is usually represented with a star shining on his chest, alluding to the legend according to which the saint went to church at night guided by a star. The star-studded habit is related to the number of souls in Purgatory that the saint freed with his fervent supplications and prayers.
Spanish baroque painting is one of the most authentic and personal examples of our art, because its conception and its form of expression arose from the people and the deepest feelings that nested in it. With the economy of the State broken, the nobility in decline and the high clergy burdened with heavy taxes, it was the monasteries, the parishes and the confraternities of clerics and laymen who promoted its development, and the works were sometimes financed by popular subscription. Painting was thus forced to capture the prevailing ideals in these environments, which were none other than religious ones, at a time when the Counter-Reformation doctrine demanded from art a realistic language so that the faithful would understand and identify with what was represented, and an expression endowed with an intense emotional content to increase the fervor and devotion of the people. The religious subject is, therefore, the preferred theme of Spanish painting of this period, which in the first decades of the century began with a priority interest in capturing the natural, to progressively intensify throughout the century the expression of expressive values.