St. John of God

St. John of God (1672) Murillo

On March 8th , the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St. John of God. St. John dedicated his life to helping the sick. He opened a hospital in Granada, Spain and welcomed in anyone who needed help. When the Royal Hospital was on fire, St. John ran inside and saved many patients and was not injured himself. The above painting "St. John of God Carrying a Sick Man" (1672) by Murillo may be depicting that very scene as he receives help from an Angel.

Murillo was commissioned to paint 8 paintings for a Catholic Charity hospital in Seville (Hermandad de la Caridad) , four of those paintings (including this one) remain in Seville, while the other four were looted by Napoleon's army in 1810 and are in various art museums around the world.