Saint Francis Xavier preaching in Goa

The painting represents St. Francis Xavier preaching to the people of Goa. Four groups of people are gathered in front of him, namely local natives distinguished by their colourful dresses, a group of children in the foreground, and Portuguese noblemen on horseback behind on the left. The painter places the scene in a large square, which looks like the European style “plazas” of Italian influence. This painting belongs to a set of canvases depicting episodes of St. Francis Xavier life. The cycle of 20 paintings is placed above the chest of drawers - their original location, in the sacristy of the Church of São Roque. The scenes were inspired and based upon the first Portuguese biography written by the jesuit priest João de Lucena, a resident at the Professed House of São Roque, published in 1600. The originality of these paintings is that most of the scenes were composed solely according to oral sources given by Jesuits, who had been missionaries in the Orient and had known the regions where St. Francis Xavier lived.