This work is one of 11 paintings showing the history of the mendicant order of the Franciscans. All pictures of the cycle illustrate amazing episodes from the life of Franciscans. Blessed Gilles – a follower of St. Francis in the thirteenth century. His religious fervor was so strong that he fell into ecstasy, during which he levitated. Having heard about this miracle, the Pope wished to see it.
The inscription at the base of the picture speaks of this case. Blessed Gilles saw Pope Gregory IX, fell into a “divine ecstasy” and began to slowly come off the floor. Light illuminates the head of a monk against a dark background. Such dramatic effects of light and shadow were used in the works of Velázquez and show the interest of the seventeenth century Spanish painters in the styles of artists from Italy and the Netherlands.
St. Salvador Orta and Inquisitor of Aragon by Bartolomeo Esteban Murillo 
Brother Juniper and the Beggar by Bartolomeo Esteban Murillo 
The Kitchen of Angels by Bartolomeo Esteban Murillo 
Bienheureux Gilles devant Grégoire IX – Bartolomeo Esteban Murillo 
Beato Gilles ante Gregorio IX – Bartolomeo Esteban Murillo 
Invitation to play lapta by Bartolomeo Esteban Murillo 
Children with a Lamb by Bartolomeo Esteban Murillo 
Saint Salvador Horta et l’inquisiteur d’Aragon – Bartolomeo Esteban Murillo