Mexican Viceroyal School (c. 1700) - Large Portrait Of Saint Ignatius

- Oil on canvas. - This imposing altarpiece, erected in the heart of the Mexican viceroyalty around 1700, testifies to the spiritual and educational power of the Society of Jesus. The canvas, the size of a cathedral, reproduces the "true portrait" of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, an effigy that aspires to the almost notarized precision of his death mask, but raised to a heroic and monumental scale. Ignatius stands at the center of the composition, enveloped in a cassock of abyssal black which, thanks to a chiaroscuro inherited from the great Spanish Baroque tradition—in the lineage of Zurbarán—seems to possess a sculptural density capable of absorbing the light of the space. In his hands, the saint resolutely holds the patriarchal cross, symbol of his founding authority, while the emblem of the Society (IHS) radiates from his chest or the background like a miraculous sun piercing the darkness. On the desk, or held in a gesture of submission, lies the Book of Constitutions, where the initials AMDG (Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam) gleam in gold, evoking the intellectual and mystical force that animates the Order. The austerity of the figure is softened in the upper corners by the presence of two cherubs with pearly complexions and expressions of wonder, who, amidst baroque storm clouds, lift an invisible curtain to reveal the glory of the founder to the faithful of New Spain. - 103 x 128 cm / 109 x 134 cm with frame.