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Saint Benedict

ca. 1640–45
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 624

This painting formed part of a series by Zurbarán representing the thirteen founders of monastic orders, known today from copies in the Capuchin convent at Castellón de la Plana. During the 1630s, his workshop produced at least two other copies to serve evangelizing missions in the Americas: one series went to Lima and another to Mexico City. Saint Benedict is depicted holding a wine jar—notably a contemporary Spanish example made in the neighborhood of Triana in Seville—in reference to a legend that a jar of poisoned wine was fractured when blessed by the saint, thus saving him. Benedict reappears praying in the rocky landscape background.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Saint Benedict
  • Artist: Francisco de Zurbarán (Spanish, Fuente de Cantos 1598–1664 Madrid)
  • Date: ca. 1640–45
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 74 x 40 3/4 in. (188 x 103.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Harry G. Sperling, 1971
  • Object Number: 1976.100.21
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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The Young Virgin, Francisco de Zurbarán Spanish, Oil on canvas
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ca. 1632–33
Rapier, Steel, blade, Spanish, Toledo; hilt, European, possibly Spanish
Rapier
blade, Spanish, Toledo; hilt, European, possibly Spanish
blade, ca. 1635; hilt, late 17th century
Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Marie Gabrielle Capet (1761–1818) and Marie Marguerite Carraux de Rosemond (1765–1788), Adélaïde Labille-Guiard French, Oil on canvas
Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Marie Gabrielle Capet (1761–1818) and Marie Marguerite Carraux de Rosemond (1765–1788)
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard
1785
Saint John the Baptist, Juan Martínez Montañés Spanish, Polychromed wood with gilding, Spanish, Seville
Saint John the Baptist
Juan Martínez Montañés
ca. 1620–30
Agnus Dei, Francisco de Zurbarán Spanish, Oil on canvas
On loan to The Met
Agnus Dei
Francisco de Zurbarán
ca. 1635–40

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