Saint Ambrose (San Ambrosio)

This set of four oval paintings from the parish church of Remolinos is of a decidedly rococo style, albeit distilled in baroque tradition, as evidenced by the movement and shine of the fabrics, the elaborate gestures, and the use of clouds on which the figures float. The figure representing Saint Ambrose is depicted sitting on clouds, wearing a bluish miter bordered with flowers and a green cope with red lining. His clothing is of an intense, shining white and falls in folds which generate deep shadows. He has a distinctly severe gaze which is directed above the viewer's shoulder, and he is shown holding a bible and crosier. The saint seems oblivious to what the angel who accompanies him is pointing to in the book.

In comparison with the Fathers of the Church which appear in the pendentives of the Chapel of la Virgen de la Fuente in Muel, Zaragoza, also attributed to Goya, it is considered that those of Remolinos are earlier and less developed in style, despite the fact that both series feature the same iconography.

The inscription below each of the four figures may have been forged in order to facilitate an identification which seems incorrect from the perspective of orthodox iconography, at least in the cases of Saint Jerome, who should appear as a cardinal or penitent, and Saint Gregory Magnus, who should be dressed as a pontiff. The depiction of Saint Augustine should also feature a flaming heart. It is, therefore, very uncertain that the artist's original intention was to represent the so-called Four Fathers of the Latin Church, even though no academic has questioned the matter with the exception of Borrás, who proposes the possibility that two of the Fathers represent the Great Doctors of the Western Church while the other two are of the Eastern Church, just as Bernini had placed them supporting the Cathedra Petri (or throne of Saint Peter) in the Vatican. Another plausible theory is that the models for the four bishops painted in Remolinos and Muel derive from those painted for Francisco Bayeu in the church of the Convent of Jerónimo de Santa Engracia in Zaragoza, which disappeared during the Spanish War of Independence, and which, according to Ceán Bermúdez, represented the Holy Bishops Valeri, Braulio, Prudencio, and Eugenio.