Antonio Montúfar
Saint Francis Appearing before Pope Nicholas V, with Donors (La aparición de san Francisco al Papa Nicolás V, con donantes)1628

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Oil painting, vertical, robed saint levitating above an altar platform flanked by hanging lamps, surrounded by kneeling clergy in red vestments and lay figures in black, with Latin inscription on the platform

Oil painting, half-length figure of a bearded man in a gray Franciscan habit with knotted rope belt, arms crossed, gaze directed upward, a wound visible on his chest, dark background with a dark halo above his head.

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.

Oil painting detail showing a youth in dark clothing with a white lace collar in the lower portion, a robed figure's hand resting on a ledge above, and a Latin inscription reading "ST. FRANCISCE ORA PRO NOBIS" painted in gold letters on the ledge between them.

Oil painting detail showing a bare foot with a wound mark emerging from gray robes, resting on a ledge; Latin inscription below reads "...ANCISCE ORA PRO NOBIS"; crackled paint surface visible throughout.

Close-up detail of an oil painting showing a gold cursive inscription reading 'Montufar' and the date '1623' against a dark, crackled background with deep red and brown tones.

Artist or Maker: Antonio Montúfar
Spain [?], active Bolivia and Ecuador, 1614-1629
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)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican Art Deaccession Fund
Accession Number: M.2008.85
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: This painting is based on a Franciscan legend that gained currency in the 1600s, particularly in the Iberian world. In 1449, Pope Nicholas V and a small entourage visited the tomb of Saint Francis in Assisi, Italy. In the darkened crypt, the flickering torchlight fell on the miraculously preserved body of the saint, and the pope fell to his knees. Here, the cardinal on the right looks directly at the viewer and points at the scene.

Although the location of Saint Francis’s tomb was a zealously guarded secret, preventing devotees from accessing it, the donors who commissioned this painting inserted themselves on the left, symbolizing their entry into the sacred space to emphasize their affection for the saint and their privileged status. Note the red cross embroidered on the left shoulders of the father’s and young boy’s robes, signaling their knighthood as members of the Order of Calatrava. The Latin inscription on the steps, “Saint Francis, pray for us,” corroborates the devotional intent of the painting.

Ilona Katzew

2024
Provenance: Art market, Vigo, Spain; private collection, Salamanca, Spain, 1998; Valery Taylor Gallery (Valery Taylor Brown), Denver, 2007; LACMA, 2008.
Selected Bibliography: Kasl, Ronda, ed. Sacred Spain, Art and Belief in the Spanish World. Exh. Cat. The Indianapolis Museum of Art. Indianapolis, IN. 2009.
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. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024

Related Exhibitions

Antonio Montúfar
Saint Francis Appearing before Pope Nicholas V, with Donors (La aparición de san Francisco al Papa Nicolás V, con donantes)1628

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Artist or Maker: Antonio Montúfar
Spain [?], active Bolivia and Ecuador, 1614-1629
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)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican Art Deaccession Fund
Accession Number: M.2008.85
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: This painting is based on a Franciscan legend that gained currency in the 1600s, particularly in the Iberian world. In 1449, Pope Nicholas V and a small entourage visited the tomb of Saint Francis in Assisi, Italy. In the darkened crypt, the flickering torchlight fell on the miraculously preserved body of the saint, and the pope fell to his knees. Here, the cardinal on the right looks directly at the viewer and points at the scene.

Although the location of Saint Francis’s tomb was a zealously guarded secret, preventing devotees from accessing it, the donors who commissioned this painting inserted themselves on the left, symbolizing their entry into the sacred space to emphasize their affection for the saint and their privileged status. Note the red cross embroidered on the left shoulders of the father’s and young boy’s robes, signaling their knighthood as members of the Order of Calatrava. The Latin inscription on the steps, “Saint Francis, pray for us,” corroborates the devotional intent of the painting.

Ilona Katzew

2024
Provenance: Art market, Vigo, Spain; private collection, Salamanca, Spain, 1998; Valery Taylor Gallery (Valery Taylor Brown), Denver, 2007; LACMA, 2008.
Selected Bibliography: Kasl, Ronda, ed. Sacred Spain, Art and Belief in the Spanish World. Exh. Cat. The Indianapolis Museum of Art. Indianapolis, IN. 2009.
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. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024