Portrait of Saint Francis Borgia

Portrait of Saint Francis Borgia, a figure of special importance in the context of the development of the Society of Jesus in Portugal. Francis Borgia was born in Gandia in 1510, and died in Rome in 1572. Son of Joanna of Aragon he would come to marry Leonor de Castro, assuming important roles throughout his life, such as Marquis of Lombay, Viceroy of Cataluña, 4th Duke of Gandia, high-stable master of the Empress Isabella of Portugal, and succeeding in being nominated Cardinal by the Pope. He professed vows in the Society of Jesus late, already after being widowed, later assuming the important post of Third General of the Society, a position he held from 1565 until his death. His iconography is represented with a crowned skull, associated with the sight he would have had of the dead body of Empress Isabella of Portugal, and wife of the emperor Charles V, crowned and holding a sceptre. A sight that motivated his abandonment of the world and consequent religious vows. Apart form this iconographic element, visible behind the Saint, these are the hats that invoke the category of Cardinal and in the background we report an allusion to the worldly riches that he renounced.