Donato Mascagni, Capuchin Father Brindes Thanks Margaret of Austria and Philip III for the Aid Given to the Duke of Bavaria Against the Protestant Princes of Germany, oil on canvas. Florence, Uffizi, Inv. 1890, n. 7802.

Margaret and the Protestant princes

The canvas, showing the Capuchin Father Brindes (Lorenzo da Brindisi) expressing his gratitude, illustrates another episode confirming Margaret’s constant activity in the maintaining and defending the Catholic religion. The political front illustrated here refers to the actions of Maximilian of Bavaria, head of the Catholic League against the Protestants. The episode, with Margaret and her husband Philip III as protagonists, focuses the spectator’s gaze on the figure of the person paying homage, Father Brindes, who at the time had already distinguished himself in the fight against the Ottomans but above all for his diplomatic interactions with the grand dukes of Tuscany.