Actually, this is an old St. Vincent painting, from the 18th century. The original is in the chapel of the Hospital of St. Eutrope (now Hôpital Thermal) in Dax, the hospital where the newly beatified Sr. Marguerite Rutan, D.C., was Sister Servant at the time of the Revolution. The painting hangs above the main altar.
The image is new for the St. Vincent Image Archive, located under the “Paintings” folder, then classified under France. The artist is unknown, at least for now. The painting is unusual in that it shows St. Vincent in a hospital setting. He blesses from heaven the patients, the Sisters, and perhaps the donor, kneeling in the lower center of the painting, wearing a red cloak. Perhaps someone could explain why he is apparently kneeling on cut branches.
The Sisters are dressed in grey or black, with the older form of the cornette used before the French Revolution. St. Vincent is shown in an ample surplice with an elaborate gold stole.
It was in this hospital that Blessed Marguerite received and treated soldiers during the Revolution, some of whom were guilty of supporting the monarchy. On the principle of “the friend of my enemy is my enemy,” she was condemned for anti-revolutionary activities and guillotined in the main square of Dax, on 9 April 1794.
I received this image from Fr. Mauricio Fernandez Monsalve, a Colombian Vincentian working at the birthplace of St. Vincent, the Berceau, near Dax.