January 8 Feast
Francisco de Zurbarán (died 1598) painted St. Peter Thomas with a somewhat unconventional iconography. Zurbarán was a painter in the Spanish baroque period and his works are characterized by a Caravaggesque naturalism and the use of extreme contrasts of light and dark to heighten the dramatic effect. Zurbarán was noted for his religious subjects. Besides St. Peter Thomas, he also painted St. Cyril of Constantinople.
According to the Carmelite historian Joachim Smet, the Spanish master must have known the biography of Philippe de Mézières, a contemporary of the saint. Peter Thomas is seen with the hat which he wore on his constant travels, wearing the habit of a humble Carmelite friar in spite of his patriarchal dignity, and reciting his breviary, which he never neglected on land or sea.
These are all details carefully pointed out by Philippe, his devoted friend. The painting (pictured on St. Peter Thomas’ webpage within the ocarm.org website) now hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.
