(Ecstasy of Saint Pascual Baylon) / 1836 / Oil on canvas / 245.1 x 166.4 cm / Artist: Juan Arceo aka Juan Arzeo / Franciscan Rectory, Parish of San Pedro Bautista, San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City

San Pascual Baylon draws countless devotees in the Philippines, being among others, one of the saints whose image is carried in procession at the feast of Obando, Bulacan, during the town’s May festivities. The Aragonese saint is distinguished for his ardent devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. During intense moments of prayer, he would be lifted from the ground. It is such a state that Arceo chose as the main scene in his polyzonal composition depicting the saint’s life. The ecstasy scene is surrounded by smaller ones showing other inspiring episodes of San Pascual’s life on earth.

Arceo evoked the sanctity of the subject by limning him in very fine strokes. His finely shaped face, hands, and habit are rendered in red and ocher tones that seem to glow against the monk’s deep-brown habit and the greenish-blue sky. The brown vertical form of the saint contrasts with the pale color of the kneeling bench; hence the saint seems to be rising from the earth. This upward motion is accentuated by the dark blue-green cloud forms suspended behind the saint. The highlights on the saint’s face and hands repeat the color of the halo around the chalice and host floating in front of the saint. Arceo used red paint to trace the borders of the smaller vignettes around the main scene. Typical of religious murals from the 16th to the first half of the 19th century, the mural is replete with inscriptions intended to educate its viewers.