Saint Bruno’s Conversion before the Body of Diocrès.
Raymond Diocrès, a notable professor at the University of Paris, was already considered saintly when he died in 1082. At his funeral, he himself spoke to the attendees three times to inform them that God had accused, judged and finally condemned him for his sins. This first work from the series shows the deceased’s horror as well as the surprised visage of St. Bruno of Cologne (1035-1101), who was also a Paris University professor at that time. And here, it is clear that Vicente Carducho drew on the series that Juan Sánchez Cotán had painted for the charterhouse in Granada between 1615 and 1617.
Both artists conceived this scene in a similar manner, with the deceased speaking from his position at the center of a majestic architectural setting. Some details are the same in both works, such as the clergyman wearing glasses (who appears on opposite sides of the two painting), or the mourning cross on a velvet-covered base.
