Saint William of Aquitaine

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. 

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.