Zurbarán, Francisco de (1598-1664)
San Francisco contemplando una calavera (St. Francis Contemplating a Skull)
c.1635
Oil on canvas, 91.4 x 30.5 cm
Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis
St. Francis of Assisi was a 13th-century Christian friar and preacher famous for having had a vision during which he received the wounds of Jesus. The artist reduced this figure to simple geometric solids, their three-dimensionality enhanced by stark lighting. The saint’s downcast gaze and shadowed face remove him from the viewer’s realm, making his contemplation of the skull a compelling model of religious devotion. Francisco de Zurbarán was a master of the single monumental figure, often based on models that he studied from life. (SLAM)