Trustees of Dartmouth College

In 1671, Francis Borgia (1510–1572) was canonized, only the third Jesuit to be honored thus (all of whom had been declared saints within a fifty-year period in the seventeenth century). In the 131 years since the founding of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits had become the most numerous and influential of the new orders of secular clergy. They were at first regarded with suspicion by the papacy but gradually became the most powerful force in the roman Catholic Counter-Reformation. Early on in their history, prominent Jesuits defended the need for the sumptuous decoration of their churches. although the style was often determined by the taste of the patron, the wide horizons of their activity rendered the Jesuits supremely important as agents in the transmission of art and culture across the globe.

Saint Francis Borgia was born Francisco de Borja y Aragón at Gandia near Valencia, Spain. he was the great-grandson of Pope Alexander VI (reigned 1492–1503) on his father’s side, and of King Ferdinand II of Aragón (reigned 1479–1517) on his mother’s side. After succeeding to the Duchy of Gandia upon his father’s death in 1543, he became a supporter of the newly established Jesuit order. The death of Borgia’s wife in 1546 led to him taking preliminary Jesuit vows and eventually making a solemn profession in 1548. After returning from a pilgrimage to Rome, he was granted permission in 1551 to abdicate his duchy, the same year he was ordained. He was eventually elected the third Father General of the Jesuits in 1565 and held the post until his death.

The present bronze bears the distinctive facial characteristics of the saint, including the strong brow and long nose with a break high on the ridge that are evident in other images. The figure wears a chasuble to celebrate mass, adapted from the iconography of the order’s founder, Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491–1556). He most likely held a crucifix in his left hand instead of a chalice, with which he was also associated. his proper left foot rests on an overturned crown, symbolizing his abdication of the Duchy of Gandia in order to enter the Society of Jesus.

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