Auto-da-fe on Plaza Mayor, Madrid
by RIZI, Francisco, Oil on canvas, 277 x 438 cm
Rizi’s painting is impressive for its format alone. It shows one of the last great autos-da-fe in Madrid, held in the presence of King Charles II in 1680. Economically bankrupt, Spain was no longer in a position to contribute to the battle against the Turks, so the supposed heretics within the country’s borders were persecuted all the more severely.