Saint Francis and the Crucified Christ

The traditional representation of Saint Francis, holding Jesus on the cross, began with a particular painting, which is part of a collection commissioned to Murillo by the Order of the Capuchins for the church of his convent in Seville. Such works, carried out around the years 1668 and 1669, were to exalt the distinctive elements of Franciscan spirituality.

The theme of the work (Allegory on the renunciation of the material world of Francis of Assisi to follow Jesus.) Had already been embodied by other painters and among all the versions, the most famous was that of Francisco Ribalta made about ten years before for the Capuchins of Valencia. Therefore it is easy to think that it was the Valencian brothers, who also contributed to the founding of the convent of Seville, who suggested to Murillo the reproduction of that motif in his web.

The composition symbolizes the culminating moment of the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, that is, when he decides to renounce all his material goods to embrace religious life.

The globe on which St. Francis rests his foot, almost as if pushing him, symbolizes the earthly world he rejects and abandons to become a disciple of Jesus.