Andalusian school; second half of the XVII century. "Saint Francis of Paula", Oil on canvas. Relined. Presents repainting, restorations and varnish stains on the paint. Measurements: 108 x 87 cm; 121 x 96 cm (frame). Saint Francis of Paula (1416-1507) was an Italian hermit, founder of the Order of the Minims. At a very young age he began his life as a hermit on the outskirts of his native town of Paula. Little by little he acquired fame for his prodigies, and around 1450 there was already a group of followers around his figure. His community grew, and in 1470 the Congregation of Hermits (the future Order of Minims) received diocesan approval from the Archbishop of Consenza. Four years later, Pope Sixtus IV granted them pontifical approval. In 1483 Francis of Paola went to France by order of the Pope and at the request of King Louis XI. There he developed some diplomatic work in favor of the Holy See, at the same time that he tried to obtain the approval of a Rule for his congregation, which he finally obtained in 1493. Until his death, Francis of Paola would count on the support and protection of the French monarchs, and a few years after his death, processes for his canonization would begin in Calabria, Tourse and Amiens, in which numerous witnesses of his life and miracles testified. He was finally beatified in 1513 and canonized in 1519. The iconography of this saint is abundant. The best known effigy, which has inspired many painters, is the one by Jean Bourdichon, a French painter contemporary to Francis of Paola. In it the saint appears in habit, an old man with a grave face and a thick gray beard, leaning on a simple staff. The work can be related to the Andalusian painting of the mid-seventeenth century, in which there was a great influence of Murillo. Having become the first painter of the city, surpassing in fame even Zurbarán, moved his will to raise the artistic level of local painting. That is why in 1660 he decided, together with Francisco Herrera el Mozo, to found an academy of painting of which he was the main promoter. His fame spread to such an extent, throughout the national territory, that Palomino indicates that around 1670 King Carlos II offered him the possibility of moving to Madrid to work there as a court painter. We do not know if this reference is true, but the fact is that Murillo remained in Seville until the end of his life. His works are currently preserved in the most important art galleries in the world, such as the Prado Museum, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna, the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan in New York or the National Gallery in London, among many others. Dimensions 108 x 87 cm; 121 x 96 cm (frame).