c. 1691-1692

Saint Francis Defeats the Antichrist

Cristóbal de Villalpando

Mexican, c. 1649 - 1714

This painting is one of seventeen surviving canvases from a series of forty-nine devoted to the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, commissioned in 1691 from Cristóbal de Villalpando—the preeminent artist of colonial Mexico—for the Franciscan convent in Antigua, Guatemala. In this scene Francis thrusts a sword into the Antichrist’s chest as the prophet Elijah, directly behind the saint, charges brandishing a flaming sword. The Antichrist’s supporters, grouped at the right, recoil in horror. The top of the composition, trimmed off sometime in the painting’s history, showed a battle between angels and demons, whose legs are still visible.

This violent confrontation is not described in any of the biographies of the famously peaceful saint. It was likely devised by the artist with the guidance of his Franciscan patrons, making it the earliest known example of this unorthodox iconography, which is found only in Mexico. The powerful narrative in this painting underscores Villalpando’s flair for the type of dramatic composition that epitomizes the Baroque era.