Ferrarese School, late 16th century

The copper plate is cradled and flat. The paint surface is relatively clean and the varnish clear. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals sensitively-rendered scattered spot retouching through the architecture and sky and in the face of Saint Benedict. In overall good condition.
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The miracle of Saint Benedict and the Arian Visigoth, Zalla, is recounted by Pope Gregory the Great in his Life of Saint Benedict. The narrative here is woven through the landscape on the left-hand side of the composition, culminating in the foreground. Zalla was a merciless persecutor of devout Catholics and one day alighted upon a farmer, torturing him for his money. The farmer pleaded with his tormentor, telling him his fortune was in the hands of Abbot Benedict, upon which Zalla bound the man's wrists and forced him to lead the way to the abbey. On arriving there and finding Saint Benedict at the entrance, Zalla attempted to intimidate the Abbot into handing over money. With one glance from Benedict, however, the cords around the farmer's hands miraculously fell to the ground, at which Zalla himself prostrated himself in the face of this divine power, humbled into renouncing his former cruelty.

One of the most striking aspects of this composition is the face of the monk who looks out to engage the viewer in the scene. The head has so much the feeling of a portrait that it is tempting to speculate as to whether this might represent the figure who commissioned this rare painting, possibly as part of a series depicting episodes from the life of the saint.