17th century

Possibly by Alonso Cano

This somber, haunting image of the ascetic Saint Francis typifies the work of one of Spain’s most important Golden Age painters. As is characteristic, Zurbarán depicted the saint alone, in a dark, featureless space, and lit his humble, homespun monk’s robe with dramatic, raking light that also catches on the upturned skull he holds as well as his left foot, which seems to stride into the viewer’s space. Saint Francis was of particular significance to Spain’s monastic communities, which were deeply impacted by the Counter-Reformation. This work was commissioned for Don Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, who was a high-ranking nobleman, close advisor of King Philip IV, and ultimately Prime Minister of Spain (1621–1643).

Emerging from deep shadows behind a table, a solemn individual stands displaying a well-worn book with various geometric figures, pseudo-Greek characters, and an imaginary script. Jusepe de Ribera paid considerable attention to the man's facial details, from the unkempt beard to the distinctive creases of his high forehead and the irregular folds of the lids above his dark, penetrating eyes. He depicted the wise man with tattered clothes and blackened, grimy fingers to emphasize the subject's devotion to intellectual, rather than material, pursuits.

The presence of mathematical diagrams in the illegible book reveal the figure's identity as Euclid, a prominent mathematician from antiquity, best known for his treatise on geometry, the Elements. Portraits of wise men were very popular in the 1600s, when there was a revived interest in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. Rather than portraying the subject as a refined and noble figure, Ribera depicted him as an indiv