Saint Ignatius Loyola
Portuguese workshop
Gilded and painted gessoed wood
17th Century
71 cm (H) x 27 cm (W) x 15 cm (D)
From the Colégio Church (?)
MASF193
Founder of the Order of the Jesuits, Saint Ignatius Loyola is one of the iconographic images that was most widely disseminated during the Portuguese missionary activity of the 17th and 18th centuries. This sculpture comes from the Santo António Church in Funchal, but probably originated in the Church of St. John the Evangelist in the Colégio, the main church of the Jesuits in Madeira Island. The Saint is presented with his black habit, his cassock tied at the waist, and a cape with magnificent goldsmithery. There is an orifice in his chest, which must have held a relic of the Saint. The image is placed on a small plinth, which has the form of a book. In his left hand, the book of his rule is shown open. Missing from his right hand is the natural staff of the companion of the souls.
