English: The French saint, Peter Nolasco, founded the order of Our Lady of Mercy, also known as the Mercedarians, whose main objective was to rescue Christians held captive by the Muslims. The convent of la Merced Calzada for which this work was painted had been founded by Ferdinand III in 1249 -the year Pedro Nolasco died- but it was entirely reconstructed in the early 17th century. In August 1628, Zurbarán was commissioned to paint twenty-two scenes from the saint’s life on the occasion of his canonization, which took place in Rome a month later. It is unlikely that he delivered all twenty-two paintings, and to date, only eleven have been identified.