- Title
- Saint Francis Appearing before Pope Nicholas V, with Donors (La aparición de san Francisco al Papa Nicolás V, con donantes)
- Date Made
- 1628
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Unframed: 42 1/2 × 34 1/2 in. (108 × 87.6 cm); framed: 50 × 41 3/4 × 3 in. (127 × 106.05 × 7.62 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2008.85
- Collecting Area
- Latin American Art
- Curatorial Notes
This painting draws on a Franciscan legend that gained currency in the seventeenth century. In 1449 Pope Nicolas V and a small retinue visited the tomb of Saint Francis in the monastery at Assisi, Italy. In the darkened crypt, the flickering torchlight fell on the miraculously preserved body of the saint, and Nicolas V fell to his knees.
For devotees of Francis, no possibility of contact with the saint existed: none of his relics circulated, and the tomb’s location was a closely guarded secret. Inserting themselves into this sacred space emphasized the donors’ privileged status and their affection for the saint.
From exhibition Archive of the World, 2022 (for more information see the catalogue entry by Ilona Katzew in the accompanying publication, cat. no. 1, pp. 32–34)
- Provenance
Art market, Vigo, Spain; private collection, Salamanca, Spain, 1998; Valery Taylor Gallery (Valery Taylor Brown), Denver, 2007; LACMA, 2008.
- Selected Bibliography
- Katzew, Ilona, ed. Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800: Highlights from LACMA’s Collection. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books/D.A.P., 2022.
- Selected Exhibition History
- Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
- Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
- Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
- Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
- Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024
- Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024
![Oil painting of three figures in dark robes: a woman with pearl earrings at left, a bearded man holding rosary beads at center, and a young boy with hands clasped in prayer at right. A gray-robed figure peers over a ledge above, with Latin inscription 'ST. FRANCISCE ORA PRO NO[BIS]' on the ledge.](https://collections-images.lacma.org/images/141290/141290-3-primary.webp)
