Saint William of Maleval, hands tied with rope fastened to a tree

St. William was an immoral soldier who later took up a monastic life. He is depicted here doing penitence in a forested valley in a region of Siena known as Maleval. Rosa presents the saint as a solitary penitent figure tensely situated in an uncomfortable pose and quietly contemplating a cross. The loneliness of the figure is augmented by the jagged style in which the forest is rendered, especially through the extreme gradations of shading.