Colonial school. Mexico. 18th century. 'Life and Miracles of Father Saint Francis Caracciolo' Oil on copper. 30 x 21.5 cm. Distributed over fifteen cartouches, including the central one, the painting describes the life, miracles, preaching, and priestly life of Father Francis Caracciolo. In the midst of the 16th century, after a difficult childhood plagued by illnesses, including a skin disease, he vowed to offer his life to God were he cured. A miracle indeed cured him. He prepared for the priesthood in Naples, and shortly after his ordination as a priest, he joined a group dedicated to ministering to prisoners in jails. In 1588, John Augustine Adorno decided to establish a religious community that would devote half of its time to prayer and the other half to proselytism, and he did so with Father Francis. The new community was named the 'Clerics Regular Minor.' In the central window of the painting, we see him during his daily prayer hour, nourishing his spirit. He drove away the demons that pursued him with constant fasting, blessed many of his followers who, upon meeting him, abandoned their wealth and joined as equals, he visited jails and hospitals, and 'blessed with the certainty that his mere gesture of raising his hand filled them with God and healed them.' He had the gift of healing. Many times, with the sign of the cross, he restored health to the sick. He also founded communities in Madrid, Valladolid, and Alcalá in Spain. In 1607, he resigned from all his positions and devoted himself to prayer and meditation. In his room in Naples, he was found several times on the floor, with his arms outstretched in a cross, in ecstasy, praying and gazing at the crucifix in rapture. A clear example of a devotional-catechetical painting that invited people to follow his life, and that may well have belonged to a member of his order.