Page of The Triumph of St Hermengild by HERRERA, Francisco de, the Younger in the Web Gallery of Art, a searchable image collection and database of European paintings and sculptures (1100-1850)

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The Triumph of St Hermengild

1654
Oil on canvas, 328 x 229 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid

In July 1654 Herrera signed a contract for the altarpiece of the Carmelites of San Hermengildo (now San Jos). Only the principal painting, The Triumph of St Hermengild, remains, but it is a brilliant work of art. The subject is the triumph of St. Hermengild, who died a martyr in prison rather than accept communion in the heretical Aryan faith of his father, Leovigild, the Visigoth king of Spain. St Hermengild floats in glory above the shadowy figures of King Leovigild and the Aryan bishop, who cower before this irrepressible demonstration of the power of the true faith.

The work of Herrera the Younger shows both decorative and dynamic elements and it owed much to the example of Murillo.