The Miracles of St. Ignatius of Loyola

This monumental painting was displayed alternately with The Miracles of St. Francis Xavier (Inv. No. GG 519) on the high altar of Antwerp’s Jesuit Church, where Rubens had been responsible for the interior decorations. There he united individual elements, some of which were based on actual occurrences in the life of the founder of the order, while the rest were part of the “repertoire” for depicting the life of a saint. The spontaneity of the concept for the modello (Inv. No. GG 530) is less pronounced in the finished work, which has a more didactic intention.