Odazzi was a student of Ciro Ferri (1633–1689) and Cornelis Bloemaert (approx. 1603–1692), he worked under Giovanni Battista Gaulli (1639–1709) and Carlo Maratta (1625–1713). After Maratta's death, he was one of the leading painters of the Roman Rococo. He was a member of the Congregazione dei Virtuosi al Pantheon and the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. The painting enchants with its harmonious composition, as well as the light direction and the coloring, which create the mystical mood. To the aged, kneeling, Franz von Paula, Maria appears sitting on clouds and with the baby Jesus on her lap. She is wearing a red robe and a blue coat. With her head turned, she looks down graciously on the pleading saint. The naked child has spread his arms. An engraving by Michel Lasne based on a design by Peter Paul Rubens shows what could happen in the following (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, inv.no.RP-P-OB-75.839): Maria presents the baby Jesus to Franz von Paula and thereby grants him a unio mystica. The subject of the handing over of the child was apparently from St. Francis on St. Franz transferred from Paula. The cherubs on the right in the picture hold the sign of the order. According to legend, the archangel Franz von Paula presented a sign with the inscription "Charitas" (love), which shone like the sun, as an order sign and said: "Franciscus, you will win in this sign." The hermit Franz von Paula canonized in 1519 (1416-1507) was the founder of the Pauline Order.

Dimensions
39 x 30,5 cm

Artist or Maker
Oil on copper