The Life of St Ignatius Loyola
by Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640)

   

Plate 1
The birth of Ignatius at Loyola in 1491

 
Plate 2
Ignatius is wounded at the battle at Pamplona
20th May 1521
 
Plate 3
Convalescing at Loyola, St Peter appears to Ignatius in a vision
 
Plate 4
Ignatius reads in bed during recovery from his injury
 
Plate 5
The injured Ignatius prays to Mary
 
Plate 6
Ignatius kneels in prayer at Loyola during recovery
 
Plate 7
Ignatius leaves Loyola to start the journey
1522
 
Plate 8
Ignatius meets a Moor on the journey to Montserrat
 
Plate 9
Ignatius prays to Mary for purity
 
Plate 10
Ignatius gives his fine clothes to a beggar
 
Plate 11
Ignatius keeps vigil at Montserrat, offering up his sword
March 1522
 
Plate 12
At Manresa Ignatius prays in solitude
March 1522 - February 1523
 
Plate 13
Ignatius joins the poor in begging for alms
 
plate 14
Ignatius does penance at Manresa
 
Plate 16
Ignatius has a vision of the Trinity while praying at the Dominican church in Manresa
 
Plate 17
Ignatius sees Christ during the elevation of the Host
 
Plate 19
Ignatius is so rapt in prayer at Manresa that he seems lifeless
 
Plate 20
The vision at the River Cardoner
(August or September 1522?)
 
Plate 21
At Manresa Ignatius is inspired to write the Spiritual Exercises
March 1522 - February 1523
 
Plate 22
At Barcelona, Ignatius boards ship on his way to the Holy Land
March 1523
 
Plate 23
Jesus appears to Ignatius while he prays at night
 
Plate 24
Ignatius sleeps under portico of San Marco in Venice
January 1524
 
Plate 25
A servant of the Franciscans drags Ignatius back from chapel of Ascension
 
Plate 31
Captured by Spanish soldiers, Ignatius thinks of Jesus before Pilate
 
Plate 32
Ignatius attends grammar school in Barcelona to learn the Latin he needs for his studies
1524 - 1526

Barcinone ut se ad animorum salutem instruat prima Grammaticae elementa annos tres, et triginta natus addiscit; furente as rumpente se Daemone, qui importunis rerum caelestium gaudiis auocare alio eius animum frustra conatur.

In Barcelona, at the age of thirty-three, so that he may train himself for the saving of souls, he applies himself to learn the first elements of Grammar but is taken out of himself and distracted by the Devil who tries in vain to call his soul away from his studies by delightful but irrelevant insights regarding heavenly things.

Plate 36
Imprisoned in Salamanca, Ignatius speaks to people
Summer 1527
 
Plate 37
A house burns as a testament to Ignatius' innocence
 
Plate 38
The director of the college in Paris falls at feet of Ignatius, recognizing his innocence
 
Plate 39
Ignatius chooses companions at Paris
1528 - 1535
 
Plate 41
The first seven Companions pronounde vows at Montmartre
15th August 1534
 
Plate 42
Ignatius throws himself into an icy river and promises to stay there until a young man he has encountered changes his life

This image is also found in the St Ignatius Chapel of the former Jesuit church at Molsheim (Bas-Rhin) painted by Audran in 1648

Plate 44
Upon returning to Spain, Ignatius preaches to crowds
 
Plate 47
Ignatius counsels women
 
Plate 49
Ignatius is ordained priest in Venice
24th June 1537
 
Plate 50
Ignatius visits Simon Rodriguez who is sick with a fever
 
Plate 52
Jesus points to Ignatius as example of holy life
 
Plate 53
The vision at La Storta: "I will be propitious to you at Rome."
November 1537
 
Plate 56
Paul III confirms the Society of Jesus in 1540
27th September 1540 Regimini Militantes
 

Plate 57
Ignatius sends Francis Xavier to India
16th March 1540

 
Plate 59
Francis Xavier writes to Ignatius from India
 
Plate 60
The first Jesuits shown in ministries: preaching, teaching children, hearing confessions, and celebrating the Eucharist
The church is the old church of Santa Maria della Strada.

The medieval fresco from Santa Maria della Strada (Our Lady of the Wayside) before which Ignatius prayed (now in the church of the Gesù built on the same site)
Plate 61
Ignatius testifies to his innocence
 
Plate 62
While crossing a bridge Ignatius has a vision of a companion dying
 
Plate 63
Ignatius meets with laymen who belong to confraternities
 
Plate 64
Ignatius meets Pope Julius III
 
Plate 65
Ignatius offers text of the Constitutions to the Trinity in prayer
1544 onwards
 
Plate 66
Ignatius meets with a Jewish man
 
Plate 67
Devils torment Ignatius at night
 
Plate 68
Ignatius receives the gift of tears while praying
 
Plate 69
When Ignatius offers the Host at Mass, flames appear above his head
 
Plate 71
Ignatius encounters prophets who predict the future
 
Plate 74
Ignatius visits Alexander Petronius
 
Plate 75
The death of Ignatius in Rome
31st July 1556