A preparatory sketch for a larger composition. Saint John the Baptist is identified by his cross and sleeveless tunic on the left, while Saint Francis is shown on the right kneeling with a book in a brown friar’s habit and displaying the stigmata on the palms of his hands. In the centre the female patron saints of Seville, Justa and Rufina, gaze adoringly at the celestial vision above. Daughters of a poor potter of the city, they quarrelled with pagans who attempted to buy his wares for use in the temple of Venus. They destroyed the goddess’s image, were accused of sacrilege by the Roman governor, and put to death. Here they are identified by their earthenware pots, martyrs’ palms and haloes.

The vaporous brushstrokes and soft colouring are typical of Murillo’s oil sketch technique, and help to explain the popularity of his work in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.