Spanish School. 17th century. "Holy Christ of the Rescue, Valencia" Oil on canvas. Relined.72,5 x 93 cm. This is a picture for use as a catechism, probably painted to be used by evangelists in the New World. It has very curious iconography which we have been able to decipher with the help of a great friend and art lover and his Jesuit brother, who we would like to thank for their priceless help and wisdom. As described in "El Santísimo Cristo del Rescate de Valencia" (The Holy Christ of the Rescue of Valencia) by Carmen Rodrigo Zarzosa: "The Christ of the Rescue is part of the medieval tradition of miraculous carved crucifixes which went to sea and bore witness of divine intervention, such as the Christ of the Sailors in Grao, Valencia, the Christ of Beirut in the Church of Salvador in Valencia, and the Christ of Burgos which is worshipped in its own chapel in the cathedral, among others. This also, peculiarly, relates to the history of the well-known merchant family of Valencia, the Medinas, so many of whom were kidnapped by pirates on the Valencian coast at the time that they rescued the miraculous image while trying to free their family members in Algiers. The image is currently worshipped in the Parish of Saint Steven in Valencia". As the historian mentions, the descendants of the Medinas have three paintings that allude to the miracle. One of these depicts the miracle of the Christ of the Rescue, painted in 1539, painted again by Espinosa in 1623, and by two other anonymous artists in 1732, who painted the disembarkation, burning and miraculous rescue of the Christ in Algiers and the procession of entry into Valencia in front of the Royal Palace. The story began on the 12th October 1529, when the Medina family was enjoying a stay in the countryside alongside other noble families, when they were attacked and taken prisoner by some corsairs from Algiers in a galleon off the coast of Xàbia. Rodrigo continues to relate that: "When they arrived at Algiers, the captives were separated without their lineage being taken into account. Magdalena de Medina was sold to a qadi who had 200 slave-women" Over four years, after multiple journeys and various ransom payments they managed to free part of the family, and as Rodrigo resumes: "During the Medina brothers’ third voyage they took centre stage in a series of incredible events. Nicolás Taphio, from Girona or Perpignan, was commissioned to find a good sculptor in Valencia to make a life-size Christ. When the carving was finished, it was packed into a large chest and sent to its destination by sea, where unfortunately Algerian pirates seized the ship and sent it to Algiers with its entire cargo. After dividing up the booty, the new owner of the crucifix thought it was useless, decided to burn it and organised a large bonfire with the help of the other Algerians, but the Christ miraculously would not burn and a sudden deluge of water put out the fire. As the Christians who were watching knew that the Medinas were present in the city, they called them so that they could try and rescue the statue. After various offers they agreed to pay the weight of the Christ in silver coins, for which scales were made from a tripod, a pulley and two plates. With the Christ on one plate, they filled the other with many coins, but the scales did not even up until there were only 30 coins on the plate, a figure that alludes to Judas’ betrayal. The Algerians protested, and after checking the scales various times, they called the qadi and tried it again in his presence. This was how the Medinas finally brought the Christ to Valencia."