Saint William of Aquitaine
Did you know that there is only one painting in Bogotá depicting Saint William of Aquitaine? Join us and discover its details.
By Santa Clara Museum
Figueroa workshop (attributed)
Saint William of Gellone (Siglo XVII) by Baltasar Vargas de Figueroa (attributed)Santa Clara Museum
Saint William was Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitiers and Toulouse. In his war campaigns, he committed cruelties and excesses. In addition, he opposed Pope Innocent II until, confronting Saint Bernard, one of the fathers of the Church, he converted to Christianity.
After this, he traveled to Rome to ask the Pontiff for forgiveness. He also went to Palestine and Santiago de Compostela as part of his hermit life. He died around 1138.
In this painting, on the right side, we see the saint coming out of a cave carrying a cross. This scene represents the moment when William took vows to devote himself to religious life.
In the center, the saint is shown in the habit of the order he joined: the Augustinian. An armor that covers half of his chest, a helmet, and chains, are the attributes with which he is usually represented, since they were elements that he used during his monastic life.
Throughout his life, the saint had to resist temptations and attacks from demons, as noted in the scene depicted to his left. In this case, William was visited by three virgins, one of them the Virgin Mary; they healed him using a balm.
The spear behind him and the shield perched on the floor represent his renunciation of the military life he led before taking the habit. The ducal crown on the ground, on the right side, shows his abandonment of the titles of nobility and the material wealth these entail.
This painting, which shows the patron saint of gunsmiths and the imprisoned, is the only of this saint known in Bogotá. It is possible that its composition responds to a particular cult or the interest of a brotherhood.
Créditos
MUSEOS COLONIAL Y SANTA CLARA
Museum Director
María Constanza Toquica Clavijo
Museology
María Alejandra Malagón Quintero
Curation
Anamaría Torres Rodríguez
María Isabel Téllez Colmenares
Collection Management
Paula Ximena Guzmán López
Editorial
Tanit Barragán Montilla
Communications
Jhonatan Chinchilla Pérez
