A beautiful painting by Spanish Baroque artist Jose Garcia Hidalgo depicting Saint Louis Beltrand, a Spanish Dominican friar who preached to the indigenous peoples throughout South America in the 16th century, thus earning him the title “Apostle of the Americas.” In this painting, Jose Garcia el Hidalgo presents St. Louis Beltrand wearing a traditional Dominican black and white habit, gazing upon the crucifix and rosary beads in his right hand, and holding his primary attribute, a golden chalice containing a serpent, in his left hand. All is rendered with the artist’s signature rich palette and striking tenebroso – a dramatic play of light and shadow characteristic of the Baroque period.

Jose Garcia Hidalgo, was a Spanish Baroque artist and treatise writer. He trained in Rome where he was influenced by Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669) and Salvator Rosa (1615-1673). He returned to Spain around 1670 and became a member of Juan Carreno de Miranda workshop in Madrid. In 1703 he became an honorary painter to Felipe V, and ran a drawing academy until his death. His paintings demonstrate many of the hallmarks of the Baroque period including the tenebrism of the Valencian school. Twenty of his works are held at the Museo del Prado including his portrait of Maria Luisa de Orleans, Queen Consort of Carlos II (ca. 1679), one of the few royally commissioned paintings together with that of Felipe V. (Source: Marques de Rafal Collection)