Ecstasy of Saint Camillus de Lellis

Cristóbal Lozano was the most significant artist of the second third of the eighteenth century. He was remarkable for the quality of his portraiture and the dynamism of his large scale religious compositions. As a protégé of the influential judge of Lima’s Royal Audience, the impassioned collector Pedro Bravo y de Lagunas, together with his patron he enjoyed a close friendship with the Camillian fathers, in whose church he was buried when he died in 1776. This work contains the most characteristic facets of eighteenth century Lima painting; for example, the fluid execution, luminous chromatism and the French-influenced beauty of its figures. At the same time, the archaic caution of the Counter-Reformation persists in the modesty apparent in the interrelation of the figures: the angel places the robe between its hands and Saint Camillus to avoid any physical contact. In accordance with the iconographic traditions associated with Saint Camillus de Lellis, the burning flame emerging from his chest reveals the fervor of the saint’s devotion to Christ; from a nearby crucifix, the Messiah frees his arms from the cross as if reaching out to embrace the saint. (FS)