The Valencian painter José Benlliure is famous for his genre paintings and his meticulous technique, but these were by no means the only genres the painter explored during his career. One of the painter’s lesser-known series—and one that diverges most from his “commercial image”—the 65 originals for the deluxe edition of *Saint Francis of Assisi*—returns to Valencia a century later.
The Benlliure House Museum will open the exhibition *The Poverello of Assisi Through the Eyes of José Benlliure* on Tuesday, October 27, at 7:00 p.m. This collection of works was originally published in October 1926 in a commemorative book marking the seventh centenary of the saint’s death.
The exhibition will be open from October 27, 2026, to January 17, 2027, in the temporary exhibition hall of the Benlliure House Museum. It will also be on view at the Convent of Santa Clara in Gandia, so you can choose between the two cities to visit it.
The works were created using a mixed media technique of walnut stain, watercolor, and gouache on paper—a particularly extraordinary and uncommon technique for the time. Almost all of the pieces are normally housed at the Franciscan convent of Sant Esperit in Gilet. The exception is one piece that belongs to the Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia.
The exhibition also brings together sketches, wash drawings, manuscripts, and photographs from the artist’s personal archive. Through these, you can trace how each illustration took shape, from the preliminary studies to the final image.
A series with a century of history
The Franciscan Third Order of Valencia sponsored the project at the time to mark the 700th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi. The 65 illustrations received praise in their day; for example, the Italian critic Filippo Bojano wrote that “his entire body of work is an exaltation of Franciscan love, self-sacrifice, and humility.”
The exhibition is rounded out with Franciscan-themed pieces that are already part of the museum’s collection. Highlights include the canvas *St. Francis Returns from Mount Alvernia*, which historian Paul Sabatier considered a “masterpiece,” and *St. Francis Surprised by a Novice*.
