A single figure fills the canvas, his head bowed to the left and his arms raised and bound at the wrists to an unseen support above him. The man's eyes are closed, his mouth slightly open, and his face is shadowed, suggesting death or deep suffering. He wears a voluminous white habit, rendered in broad, heavy folds that cascade from his shoulders and arms, catching the light in strong contrasts of brightness and shadow.

The background is a deep, unbroken black, which throws the luminous white of the robe into sharp relief and isolates the figure in a void. The composition stops just below the knees, focusing all attention on the upper body and the expressive tension in the arms and drapery. The brushwork is smooth and controlled, especially in the modeling of the fabric, where subtle gradations of tone describe the weight and texture of the cloth.

The edges of the habit are crisply defined against the dark background, with the left sleeve extending nearly to the side of the canvas. The folds of the robe create angular, almost geometric shapes, especially where the fabric bunches at the shoulders and elbows. Light falls most strongly on the upper left side of the figure’s chest and sleeve, while the lower right portion of the habit recedes into shadow.

The paint surface shows fine, linear brushstrokes in the rendering of the fabric, particularly in the areas of deepest shadow and along the creases. The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art holds the painting today. Critics have observed that Zurbarán achieves a sense of tranquillity through the dominance of white paint and the careful simplification of the robe’s folds, even as the subject’s martyrdom is quietly suggested by the pose and bindings. The painting’s restrained palette and stark lighting reflect the influence of the Spanish Tenebrist tradition.