St. Francis of Assisi at Prayer 1650

Bartolomé Estebán Murillo painted Saint Francis of Assisi at Prayer in oil on canvas sometime in the 17th century. As the quintessential Counter-Reformation painter in Seville, Spain, Murillo was committed to the creation of emotionally compelling images of saints. Here, we see Saint Francis on his knees in humble devotion, gazing up toward a divine light. The skull at the base of the painting, along with the discarded cross, serve as reminders of Christ's sacrifice. The work was created at a time of intense religious fervor, as religious orders tried to reinforce their dominance in the face of new Protestant movements. Historians consider this painting to be especially significant because it departs from traditional depictions of St. Francis, who usually appears with the stigmata, the wounds of Christ. Murillo's Francis is a more intimate, human figure, accessible to ordinary viewers. To understand Murillo's work better, we can look to the archives of religious orders in Spain and the records of Counter-Reformation artistic patronage.