Saint James of the Marches
by ZURBARÁN, Francisco de, Oil on canvas, 291 x 165 cm
Saint James of the Marches (1391-1476) (Italian: Giacomo della Marca, Spanish: San Jacobo de la Marca) was an Italian Franciscan Friar Minor, preacher and writer. He is generally represented holding in his hand a chalice, out of which a snake is escaping - an allusion to some endeavours of heretics to poison him. In Zurvar�n’s painting the snake is not present.