Neapolitan school; second half of the 19th century. "Saint Aloysius Gonzaga". Oil on canvas adhered to panel. It presents old restorations. Measurements: 59,5 x 78 cm. With inscription "Luis Gonzaga despising his states entered the Company where he died a student being a disciple of Father Gabriel Vázquez". The artist represents San Luis Gonzaga located in an austere exterior. The Jesuit is shown in a concentrated pose, holding lilies in his right hand. He raises his head towards the sky and adopts a prayerful attitude by raising and opening his hands. It is a scene of preaching, since, next to the saint, we can see the presence of several men kneeling at his feet, who seem to be following the sermon of Louis Gonzaga. This is an early scene from Gonzaga's life, in which the figure shows a clear youthfulness, following the saint's precise physiognomic features. In this way, it is a passage of his life not very often represented in art, a discipline in which he usually appears in a black coat under a white surcoat, or as a page, and accompanied by a lily (alluding to his innocence), a cross (for his piety and sacrifice), a skull (for his early death) and a rosary (which refers to his devotion to the Virgin Mary). Saint Aloysius Gonzaga (Castiglione delle Stiviere, Marquisate of CAstiglione, 1568 - Rome, 1591) was an Italian Jesuit beatified in 1605 and canonised in 1726. His father married a lady of Isabella de Valois while in the service of Philip II and, after the Battle of Lepanto (1571), he sailed to Tunis. Louis received communion from St. Charles Borromeo, and entered the Society of Jesus after ceding his rights as first-born son in 1583. He studied philosophy and theology and died at the age of 23 after contracting the plague while nursing the sick in the Rome epidemic of 1590-91. In art, he is usually depicted wearing a black coat under a white surcoat, or as a page, and accompanied by a lily (alluding to his innocence), a cross (for his piety and sacrifice), a skull (for his early death) and a rosary (referring to his devotion to the Virgin Mary). Dimensions 59.5 x 78 cm.