Cusco School (18th Century) - Saint Francis Of Paola

Oil on canvas. Restorations. This Saint Francis of Paola bears fascinating witness to the artistic fusion and sumptuousness of the 18th-century Cuzco School. Restored in Lima in the mid-1970s before its departure for the Atlantic, the work is distinguished by its visual personality. It transcends the saint's traditional austerity to embrace Andean Baroque and its profusion of angels, scrolls, and narrative elements. The piece is characterized by an extraordinary ornamental richness. The sobriety of the habit of the Order of Minims is sublimated by a vibrant dramatization of Saint Francis's prayer, so characteristic of the theatricality of artistic expression in the Peruvian viceroyalty. The background, far from being a neutral space, vibrates with the golden and supernatural light characteristic of Cuzco painting, transforming the prayer scene into a glorious apparition. The motto "CHARITAS", inscribed at the heart of this explosion of glory, constitutes not only the theological center of the composition, but also acts as a point of light that bathes the effigy of the saint, highlighting the texture of his beard and the depth of his gaze, lost in ecstasy.- Dimensions of the image without frame: 50 x 70 cm / 72.5 x 93 cm with a custom frame.