Saint Francis de Paul (San Francesco da Paola) healing a man with an ulcered leg and a woman vexed by a malignant spirit. Oil painting.

Behind the principal figures, the scene is watched by a child who holds up his hands in wonder, a woman who looks across at the expulsion of the malignant spirits, and a man of syphilitic appearance who gazes at the saint. Behind them is an archway leading to a garden. In the garden, an old man and a woman watch the saint and confer, while on a terrace above a woman and an old man look down on the scene with gestures of astonishment. Beyond, a dome resembling the dome of St Peter's Rome

The miraculous cure of the man with the diseased leg by Saint Francis de Paul may be that which is described in the Acta Sanctorum, op. cit., pp. 125-126. Several cases of exorcism by Saint Francis de Paul of evil spirits from a woman are described in the Acta Sanctorum: ibid. pp. 114 (paras. 29-31), 118 (para. 51), 131 (para. 49), 133 (para. 70), 144 (paras. 162 and 168), 158 (para. 48), 168 (para. 11), 173 (paras. 46-48)

In the centre stands Saint Francis de Paul, his hands outspread in benediction. Before him on the left is seated a man whose right leg is eaten away by a fulminating infection. On the right kneels a woman who has been possessed by a malignant spirit: her arms are flung out in a gesture similar to that of the epileptic boy in the lower right corner of Raphael's painting of the Transfiguration. She is restrained by a young man, as several malignant spirits in the form of diabolic winged monsters depart from her under the influence of the saint

[between 1730 and 1739?]

1 painting : oil on canvas ; canvas 136.5 x 100.9 cm

Acta Sanctorum, vol. 10, Paris and Rome 1866, pp. 105-234 "De S. Francisco de Paula, Institutore ordinis Minorum"

Wellcome Collection 46503i