Thomas Kay who bequeathed this work thought it resembled another of Ignatius de Loyola by Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) held in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. More recent research has attributed it to the Spanish School of a period later than Rubens. St Ignatius de Loyola founded the 'Society of Jesus', generally known as the Jesuits, in 1534. They were part of the Counter Reformation, a period when the Catholic Church was trying to reassert itself following the growth of Protestantism. Key tenets were poverty, chastity, commitment to education of the young and the propagation of faith. Loyola was canonised in 1662.