Saint Frances from Paola is an Italian jacquard wall tapestry. This image comes from The Vision of Saint Francis of Paola completed about 1670 by Spanish painter Bartolome Esteban Murillo(1617 - 1682). Saint Francis is portrayed kneeling in the midst of a desolate landscape, dressed in drab clothing and leaning on a walking stick. The bearded old man expresses devotion to God through a heavenward gaze and a pious gesture. The painter contrasted the saint's humble presence with a brilliant, spiritual vision. Saint Francis of Paola, O.M. was an Italian mendicant friar and the founder of the Roman Catholic Order of Minims, also called Hermits of Saint Francis of Assisi. Unlike the majority of founders of men's religious orders, Francis was never ordained a priest.
