It is located at the Biblioteca Museu Víctor Balaguer in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain, where it is held on deposit from the Museo del Prado in Madrid.
Location History:
Created specifically for the Monastery of San Martín. Moved to the Museo de la Trinidad during the 19th-century Spanish confiscations and museum reorganizations. Transferred to the Museo del Prado collection (Inventory No. P003214), where it is occasionally lent out for special international exhibitions.
‘Saint Benedict Destroying Idols’, a monumental devotional painting by the Castilian Benedictine monk and High Baroque painter Fray Juan Andrés Rizi (1600–1681) depicts a narrative of monastery and Counter-Reformation zeal. The scene portrays a significant moment in the life of Saint Benedict of Nursia, the founder of Western monasticism, when he came to Monte Cassino and destroyed the pagan shrine of Apollo at the ancient site.
In the painting, Saint Benedict is seen standing in his heavy black Benedictine habit, holding his arm raised to destroy pagan idols. His gesture is one of action, which leads the other monks and local converts to pull down a classical bronze statue of Apollo. In the foreground, there are stone plinths with broken statues of pagans. The striking contrast between the cold, lustrous materials of bronze and carved stone and the soft and rustic textures of the Benedictine habits can be attributed to Rizi’s rendering of the cold materials. The overall style of Rizi is dark, with a tenebrist effect using directional lighting from the upper left. The light shines on the face of the saint and the broken idols that fell into darkness, a symbol of the triumph of Christian truth over pagan darkness.
In 1627, Fray Juan Andrés Rizi, son of the Italian painter Antonio Ricci and brother of the court painter Francisco Rizi, entered the Benedictine Order at the Monastery of San Martín, in Madrid. Rizi was both a theologian (author of treatises on art and geometry) and a monumental painter, and was the principal visual chronicler of the Benedictine Order in 17th-century Spain.
Initially, the canvas was painted for the Monastery of San Martín in Madrid, as part of a larger cycle illustrating the life of Saint Benedict, which was acquired as part of the monastic confiscations during the 19th century (Desamortización). Saint Benedict Destroying Idols is his most beautiful and significant work, which exemplifies Rizi’s unique style of Italianate realism, Spanish tenebrism, and solemn religious emotion.
The painting celebrates the truimph of Christian faith over paganism. The Saint Benecdict is a symbol of true faith and devotion to Christianity. He destroys the idols and altars of pagan Gods which is symbolic of rejecting falsehood of the so called pretentious pagan gods. Rizi has used the dark tones more dominantly over the light tones but a strong light enters from the upper left, illumination the saint’s face and the destroyed idols. This light represents the light of enlightenment and devotion to Christian beliefs whereas the darkness symbolizes paganism and ignorance. Rizi combines Italianate realism, Spanish tenebrism and solemn religious emotion to create a dramatic representation of faith. The painting ultimately celebrates Saint Benedict’s spiritual authority and the triumph of Christian truth over pagan darkness.
