A robed figure stands in profile at the right, his head tilted upward and his gaze fixed intently on a luminous vision emerging from swirling clouds at the upper left. His hands are raised, the right hand delicately poised with extended fingers, while the left is held lower, palm open, both displaying small wounds that mark the stigmata. The figure’s face is sharply illuminated, revealing a beard, prominent cheekbones, and wide, transfixed eyes that convey a sense of awe and spiritual absorption.

A scrap of paper or label is attached to his belt, painted with a few quick strokes of white and a touch of red. The background is dark and undefined, with no clear setting, so that the figure and the apparition seem suspended in an otherworldly space. The dramatic contrast between the bright apparition and the shadowy surroundings heightens the sense of supernatural intervention.

The composition leads the viewer’s attention from the saint’s expressive face and hands to the vision above, emphasizing the moment of mystical encounter. The elongated proportions of the saint’s body and hands, together with the loose, almost sketch-like application of paint, contribute to the painting’s spiritual intensity and sense of movement. The Walters Art Museum describes how El Greco emphasizes the mystical nature of the event by omitting any earthly setting, focusing instead on the brilliance of the apparition and the saint’s rapt expression. The painting’s use of white paint and fluid brushwork enhances the sense of the miraculous and the immaterial, as if the scene is unfolding in a realm beyond the physical world.