Worldly aims are futile and Death is inevitable!

Miguel Manara, the leader of the Caridad in Seville and the man behind the decoration of the Church of San Jorge, had a naturally morbid streak which was increased by the deaths of his parents, sister and two brothers, all before he was thirty five. It was the death of his beloved wife that finally sealed death as his life's major preoccupation. His Discurso de la Verdad, an essay on truth, discusses at length the themes that are to be found in the two hieroglyphs he comissioned: In Ictu Oculi and Finis Gloria Mundi. Both these paintings and the text warn of the futility of worldly aims and achievements, and the inevitability of death.

It is likely that Valdes Leal was chosen to paint these grim warnings because of his inclination towards detail and realism, and for the startling effects he was capable of. Possibly Manara had seen Leal's Allegory of Vanity (1660) whose theme is the transience of material delights. The figure looks out at the spectator and points to a picture of the Last Judgement. This is the familiar doom-ridden style of Valdes Leal - strange, fascinating and crowded with symbolic artefacts.

The eeriness of this painting is expressed even more effectively in the two vanitas of death and salvation that can still be seen at the Church of San Jorge, which shock us sinners into repentance, preparing us for the frightening reality of death, even more real than the painting effects employed by Leal.

The first sentence of Manara's Discurso de la Verdad tells us that:

"the first truth that must reign in our hearts is: dust and ashes, corruption and worms, the tomb and forgetfulness".

These truths are manifest in Valdes Leal's two Vanitas paintings: In Ictu Oculi and Finis Gloriae Mundi.

In his Regla of 1675, Manara advised that the Brothers attend monthly lectures on The Four Last Things i.e. Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. In these lectures, which would enforce the power of the two Vanitas in the eyes of the Brothers, the lecturer had to stress how charity was the right path to Heaven, preparing the soul for a favourable judgement. The following recommendation for these lectures was given:

"to ponder the brevity of life, and certain death, and all which it will end; to paint the rigorous danger of death, with the greatest grandeur ending in worms. To comfort us in holy alms and exercises of charity in order to attain good death".

The two pictures illustrate earthly existence as futile and meaningless, and how the soul will be judged according to how its life was led. It is certainly heartening to remember though, the promise of salvation which is described in St Paul's letter to the Ephesians:

"But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago".