Romanus of Caesarea (Greek: Ρωμανός), also known as Romanus of Antioch or Raymond, is a Christian martyr and saint. A deacon of Caesarea, he was martyred at Antioch.
Created in 1638 during the 1600-1650 period, this work belongs firmly within the tragedy & death tradition. Francisco de Zurbarán worked at a moment when the rivalry between Catholic Baroque drama and Protestant restraint reshaped what a painting could mean. Every gesture, fabric, and gleam of light was decoded by contemporary viewers like a private language.
Executed in Oil on canvas, measuring 246.5 × 185.4 cm (97 1/16 × 73 in.), the surface rewards close looking. Francisco de Zurbarán builds the composition through layered glazes and a tightly controlled palette, letting cool shadows recede so that the warm, lit passages step forward. The brushwork shifts from the precise to the almost dissolved — a hallmark of mature Baroque practice.
“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”
From the museum
Francisco de Zurbarán excelled at painting altarpieces that presented saints in an accessible manner. Catholic reformers, who aimed to revitalize Catholicism in the face of the Protestant Reformation, emphasized that religious painting should feature easily recognizable figures and narratives in order to reach contemporary audiences.
This canvas, made for the high altar of the church of San Román in Seville, Spain, aligns with the church’s dedication to Saint Romanus of Antioch. Romanus towers over Saint Barulas, a seven-year-old child who was inspired to martyrdom by the elder saint’s words. Romanus holds up his own tongue, torn out by his tormentors, and grasps a massive book inscribed with a prayer invoking his intercession on behalf of the faithful.
Gift of Mrs. Chauncey McCormick and Mrs. Richard E. Danielson
Church of San Roman, Seville, until at least 1800 [Cean Bermudez 1800]; removed by government decree and deposited in the Alcazar, Seville, 1810 [lmaz 1896, no. 11]; taken by Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult (1769-1851), 1st Duke of Dalmatia, Paris, by 1812 [see the Getty Provenance Index database, F-23, which lists the painting in Sault's estate inventory of February 5, 1852, as no. 150; date of acquisition according to Delenda 2009]; sale of his estate, Galerie Lebrun, Paris, May 19-22, 1852, lot no. 28, presumably bought in [according to an annotated copy of the sale catalogue, Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague; copies in curatorial file, and Baticle 1999]; by descent to his son, Napoleon-Hector Soult (1802-1857), 2nd Duke of Dalmatia, Paris [according to a postmortem inventory of his collection, dated January 18, 1858; Getty Provenance Index database, F-197, no. 9]; by descent; sold, collection of Marshal Soult, Hotel Drouot, Paris, April 17, 1867, lot no. 6, for 5,330 francs [according to an annotated copy of the sale catalogue, Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague; copy in curatorial file]. Sergei Ivanovich Stchoukine, Paris and Moscow, until 1910 [this and the following according to London 1913; date according to Delenda 2009]. Joachim Caravallo, Château de Villandry, France, from 1910 to 1914. Grafton Galleries, London, from 1914 to 1918 [Kehrer 1918; date according to Delenda 2009]. Charles Deering (1852-1927), Chicago and Miami, by 1918 [Arroyo 1918]; by descent to his daughters, Mrs. Chauncey McCormick (née Marion Deering) and Mrs. Richard Ely Danielson (née Barbara Deering); given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1947.
Where to see Saint Romanus of Antioch and Saint Barulas
