VITA IGNATII. PONTIFICAL UNIVERSITY OF SALAMANCA

The College of the Society of Jesus in Salamanca was commissioned to be built at the beginning of the 17th century by Kings Philip III and Margaret of Austria. The building, begun in 1617, was under construction for about 150 years.

It was in the mid-18th century that a series of paintings on the life of the founder was commissioned in Rome to be displayed in the galleries of the main cloister of the College of Salamanca. With the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767, and the change of ownership, the paintings were removed from the cloister, but, fortunately, they never left the college.

These are twenty-eight canvases commissioned in the mid-18th century (c.1755) from the workshop of Sebastián Conca, one of the most famous painters of the late Baroque in Rome. The paintings reproduce the most important episodes in the life of Saint Ignatius. There were other cycles on the life of Saint Ignatius in the colleges of Alcalá, Murcia, or Seville, but, with the exception of the one in Salamanca, none of them are preserved complete. That is why the collection displayed in Salamanca is so important.

The pictorial representation of the life of the founder of the Society was entrusted to Rubens in 1605, coinciding with the beginning of the beatification process of Ignatius of Loyola. Rubens was inspired by the biography of Saint Ignatius written by the Jesuit Pedro de Ribadeneira at the end of the 16th century. Subsequently, Jan Baptiste Barbé, based on Rubens' drawings, created the engravings for the illustrated version of this biography. These engravings served primarily as models for Conca's workshop.

Most of the works appear to be workshop productions, carried out by Conca's assistants, while direct intervention by the principal painter is only evident in a few paintings. This was a common practice in the workshops of great artists, where assistants played an important role in the creation of works. The principal painter, in this case Conca, supervised the process and added details or finishes to the most prominent pieces. This approach allowed workshops to handle a larger volume of work while maintaining the master's style and signature.

In the old College of the Society of Jesus in Salamanca (Pontifical University and Clerecía), twenty-eight canvases commissioned in the mid-18th century from the Italian painter Sebastián Conca are exhibited. The paintings reproduce the most important episodes from the life of Saint Ignatius.

The paintings never left the College but had been relocated to other spaces within the building. Today, these paintings can be seen exhibited on the main floor of the cloister, for which they were created. The tour begins in the eastern gallery with the Defense of the fortress of Pamplona and ends in the north wing with the scene of the Death of Saint Ignatius in Rome. When the exhibition was set up, it was decided to place next to each canvas a reproduction of the engraving that had inspired the canvas.

The pictorial cycle on the life of Saint Ignatius covers the period between 1521, when Saint Ignatius was wounded during the defense of the fortress of Pamplona, and 1556, the year he passed away. Therefore, it does not reflect the entirety of Ignatius of Loyola's life but begins with his spiritual transformation when he was 30 years old.

Each of the paintings narrates relevant episodes from the life of the Company's founder. The first shows the fortress of Pamplona in 1521, when Ignatius was wounded in the leg. During his convalescence, due to reading books about the lives of saints, a radical change occurred in his life. He leaves his home, quits the military, and decides to pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Before departing for Jerusalem, he writes the Spiritual Exercises in Manresa. Upon his return, he decides to study and attends the universities of Alcalá, Salamanca, and Paris. In this last city, in the church of Saint Denis, Ignatius and his companions lay the foundations of what would become the Society of Jesus. He then travels to Rome, a city represented in the scenes of The Vision of La Storta and in the Recognition of the Company by the Pope. Thus, one by one, scenes of miracles and visions follow. Significant moments included the Entry of Saint Francis Borgia into the Company or the Sending of Saint Francis Xavier to the Indies. The cycle concludes with the scene of the Death of Saint Ignatius and the elevation of his soul to heaven.

Both the engravings and the canvases include texts extracted directly from the biography of Saint Ignatius written by Ribadeneira, which describe the represented scene.