Saint BonaventureFrancisco de Zurbarán
Saint Bonaventure at the Council of Lyon, about 1629
Oil on canvas, 250 x 225 cm
Department of Paintings, MI 204, Musée du Louvre, Paris

Saint Bonaventure at the Council of Lyon is the seventh painting in a cycle of eight decorating the nave of the church of the Colegio de San Buenaventura, founded by Franciscans in 1601 to instruct their future missionaries to America. In 1626 the Corsican merchant Tomás de Mañara Leca y Colonna and his wife Jerónima de Vincentelo made a large donation to the school, probably meant to finance this cycle. Indeed, the following year a first commission for six paintings was given to Francisco Herrera the Elder, who supplied only four. In 1629, Zurbarán was commissioned to produce four additional paintings.

 

The paintings were hung above great arcades on either side of the nave, beginning with scenes of the saint’s youth executed by Herrera, including Saint Francis of Assisi Healing Saint Bonaventure as a Child and Saint Bonaventure Receiving the Habit from Saint Francis, and ending with The Body of Saint Bonaventure. 
 

The choice of subject seemed appropriate to a seat of religious education, as Saint Bonaventure (1217–1274), declared a Doctor of the Church by Sixtus V in 1586, was, with Thomas Aquinas, one of the principal medieval theologians. Named Minister General of the Franciscan Order after obtaining his doctorate from the Sorbonne in 1257, in 1263 he published a Life of Saint Francis which then became the sole authorised biography of Saint Francis of Assisi. In Rome he established the first confraternity of penitents in 1267. Consecrated as Cardinal-Bishop of Albano in 1273, he died of a severe fever during the Council of Lyon the following year. 
 

Gregory X convoked the Council of Lyon in 1274 with the aim of establishing a union with the Eastern Orthodox Church. He selected Saint Bonaventure to meet with the representatives of the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologos and open the doctrinal debate that would lead to the union of the two Churches.
Zurbarán, in light of the paintings’ placement in the church, built his composition on a diagonal line running through the image from bottom to top, guiding the viewer's gaze towards the central figure. This choice is reinforced by the contrast between the red of the carpet and Bonaventure’s habit, which stands out against the white of the surplice, the light grey of the architectural environment and the chromatic palette of blue tonalities in the churchmen’s garments. The gestures and attitude of the protagonists confirm that they are swayed by the saint’s arguments. Great attention is also given to the depiction of faces, presenting models of various ages with individualised features.