ABSTRACT
Engraved portraits of Francis Xavier, the Jesuits' other main protagonist and first missionary, also never styled him as "beatus" before his 1619 beatification, even though as early as the Jesuits' Fifth General Congregation the Society was pressing to have the two saints canonized. Whatever reticence the Jesuits may have demonstrated in the engravings they commissioned of their founder and first missionary, they abandoned in two of their early Roman painting cycles. More specifically, Richeome uses the Novitiate paintings as a springboard for reflections and meditations on the future Jesuits' vocation, including the call to do missionary work and face martyrdom. Although his language derives from preaching and is full of erudite references to Scripture and the classics, it is written in a clear, conversational style which makes it possible to determine the original appearance of these paintings and relief panels with some accuracy.
