St. Aloysius Gonzaga

Description: The oval image contains a depiction of a saint adoring a crucifix held in his hands. The saint is depicted against a very dark background, maintained in shades of brown, brightened only at the very top of the image field, where against the background of a rusty sky, clouds, and glory made of rays of light, a flying dove of the Holy Spirit is depicted. Aloysius Gonzaga is shown almost in full form, in a dynamic pose, kneeling, turned in three quarters – also with his head – to the heraldic left, slightly bent. He is holding in both hands (the saint’s right hand is placed much lower than the left) a diagonally positioned crucifix of considerable size. With his left forearm, the saint also holds a green branch with white lily flowers. Aloysius’ head is bent, close to the figure of Christ. Gonzaga has the delicate features of a young man and a face with a pale pink complexion, with short dark brown hair. The saint is dressed in a black cassock whose tangled folds are visible at the bottom of the picture. A slightly open collar is visible at his neck, above which the similarly open collar of his under-white shirt is visible. A corrugated white surplice is worn over the cassock, decorated with delicate lace at the uppercut and the lower edge. The arms of the cross held by the saint are in the color of dark wood. The figure placed on the cross is presented realistically (Christ’s head turned away from the saint), with a large dose of expression, painted in a naturalistic convention. At the bottom of the picture field on the right, looking from the viewer, there is a light brown table with a red pillow, on which lies upside-down a princely miter in red and gold, trimmed with ermine fur. The frame is partially openwork. It has a general outline of an oval, slightly elongated on the vertical axis. At the top, the decoration of the frame is a bit more elaborate, it has the character of a finial, on the axis of which, directly above the painting, there is an oval cartouche. The frame is cut straight from the bottom. Constructed of symmetrical, multi-layered weaves of acanthus flagella maintained with a sharp styling (but not yet withering) and finer floral motifs, in the white color of the polished primer. The described weaves are enriched with motifs wholly or partly gold: profiled slats, sections of a gathered ribbon of various widths, mostly twisted (with volute endings), independent volutes, lily flowers, and a horn with flowers (at the top of the frame).

History: The painting belongs to a series of nine compositions funded by the Świdnica Jesuits as part of the thorough baroqueization of the Gothic interior of the church in Świdnica, which lasted several decades. The paintings were commissioned in 1700 by two Silesian painters: four from Knechtel and five from Johann Jacob Eybelwieser the Younger. Knechtel probably painted his paintings quite quickly, but the rich frames for them were made ten years later, probably only when all the paintings in the cycle were ready.

Characteristics: The painting belongs to a series that was intended to illustrate the merits of the Jesuits in the history of the Catholic Church by showing the most outstanding representatives of the order. Among them stood out two very young Jesuits who were not martyrs, but extremely zealous believers. Next to the Pole, St. Stanislaus Kostka, whose image was also included in the Świdnica series, appears St. Aloysius Gonzaga. He was born in 1568, and comes from the great Italian family of the Dukes of Mantua. Destined by his family for a military career, perfectly educated and distinguished by religiousness and a rich spiritual life, he managed to reject the proposed way of worldly life (which is symbolized in the painting by an inverted ducal crown). In 1585 he entered the Jesuit novitiate, which he did not complete due to his premature death. He stayed mainly in Rome without breaking ties with his family principality. During the epidemic prevailing in Rome, he obtained permission from his superiors to devote himself to the care of the sick, and soon after being infected, he died on June 21st, 1591. Beatified in 1605, he was proclaimed a saint in 1726 and is considered the patron saint of youth, altar boys, and students. The painting belongs to the early period of Knechtl’s work and some echoes of mannerist solutions can still be seen in the composition of the representation. In the Świdnica composition, despite a certain liveliness introduced by the saint’s restless pose, Knechtel placed the emphasis primarily on the illustration of the young saint’s deep spiritual life and meditation.