Spanish school; 17th century. ‘Saint Serapius’. Oil on canvas. It presents faults in the pictorial surface. Measurements: 73 x 60 cm; 86 x 73 cm (frame). The piece represents the same moment as the painting of Saint Serapio created by Zurbarán and which is in the collection of Wadsworth Atheneum, Harford (United States). However, in this particular case the saint is portrayed outside, allowing the artist to glimpse a landscape dominated by the blue sky. Furthermore, in this particular work the scene is enriched by the presence of an angel who tries to crown Saint Serarius, carrying the laurel wreath and a palm of martyrdom. In the scene we can make out the cross where he was martyred, although the peaceful gesture of his face reveals no trace of pain but rather of sorrow and acceptance of his fate. Aesthetically, the work shows great precision in the drawing through which the artist sculpts and models the body with great rotundity and monumentality. The hands and the folds of the tunic seem to have the three-dimensionality and spatial presence of a sculpture, while the face is slightly more delicate. As for the colour, the white is clearly inspired by Zurbarán, while the blue of the background is reminiscent of the palette so characteristic of the Flemish school. Saint Serapius (1179 - 1240) was an English Catholic Mercedarian priest and martyr and the first of his Order to merit the palm of martyrdom by being crucified and quartered. He is said to have served in the armies of Richard the Lionheart and Leopold VI during the time of the Crusades. He participated in the Reconquista while serving in the armed forces for Alfonso VIII of Castile or Alfonso IX of León. He met Pedro Nolasco in Barcelona and became a professed member of the Mercedarians in 1222. The aim of the Mercedarians was to free Christian captives held in Muslim states. He was assigned to recruit for the order in England, but pirates besieged the ship and left him for dead. He survived and went to London to preach, which got him into trouble and he was ordered to leave the city. There are several accounts of his death. According to one account, he was beaten, nailed to an X-shaped cross and quartered by French pirates in Marseille. The most reliable account comes from the early annals of the Mercedarians: ‘Captured in Scotland by English pirates, Serapion was tied hand and foot to two posts, then beaten, dismembered and disembowelled. Finally, they cut off part of his neck, leaving his head to hang.