Fray Julián of Alcalá's Vision

The painting depicts Fray Juli�n of Alcal�’s Vision of the Ascension of the Soul of King Philip II of Spain. The friar Juli�n directs the attention of the figures around him to a miraculous apparition in the distance - angels welcoming King Philip II of Spain into heaven. Philip died almost fifty years before this canvas was painted, and although he was never canonized, the inscription refers to him as a saint in recognition of his defense of Catholicism. Among Murillo’s first major commissions, this work belonged to a decorative cycle celebrating the miracles of Franciscan saints painted for a cloister in Seville.