Saint Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal, distributing alms Detail

The painting depicts Saint Elizabeth, the queen consort of Portugal, as she distributes alms to the poor. She lived between the 13th and 14th century, but canonised in 1629, the saint was a paragon of charity. She focused mainly on the sick in Lisbon and committed to pacify disputes. After her husband’s death, she took the habit of the Franciscan nuns and retired to the convent after donating all of her belongings to the poor. In the painting, the saint’s regality is highlighted by the crown and by the ermine cape held up by the handmaid. The protagonist is standing with her back to the viewer to shift the main focus on the population of sufferers. It is thought that the old twisted man in the foreground, accompanied by his son, represents Simone Pietro Bartolomei, the prestigious juristconsult who commissioned the work.