St. Francis Xavier
PLACE/DATE
India, 17th century
MATERIALS
Chased and polychrome silver
DIMENSIONS
27,5 x 20,7 cm
INV
AO.12
Francis Xavier (1506-1552) was the saint of universal Catholic devotion, especially in Portugal, which eastern overseas provinces were marked by his intense missionary activity.
On this rectangular plaque, the Apostle of the Indies is represented in full body, dressed in surplice and stole over a cassock with zoomorphic decoration, looking at the insignia of the Society of Jesus, symbolised by the radiant sun which, in the centre, bears the Jesuit emblem (the monogram IHS on three carnations and a cross rising from the letter H).
Among all the known pieces with Xaverian iconography, this silver plate stands out both for the rarity of the support used and for the quality of the painting and the chiselling work. It is supposed to have originally integrated one of the sides of an oratory or tabernacle, which has since been dismantled.