This composition manifests the peculiar spirituality of its author, who despite having been a disciple of Cecilio Pla (1860-1934) and Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923), from 1910 was influenced by the poetics of late symbolism and by Valle Inclán. His rapprochement to the paintings of El Greco and his reading of the Spanish mystics and the Old Testament lead him to an aesthetic that brings to mind the painting of the Spanish Golden Age, where dark red hues dominate his compositions, in part due to his habit of working in shadows, almost in the dark.

Painted in a range of ochres, greys, and blacks, the picture arranges the figures in ascending planes: the singers of the Cathedral of Santiago, the bassoon and the double bass, and the canons in the background wearing the Cross of Santiago on their robes.

This piece, which represents the All Souls Requiem Mass in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, was awarded a second-class medal in the National Exposition of Fine Arts of 1917. Despite this acknowledgment, and of being awarded the Gold Medal in the Second Regional Exposition of Art from Galicia of the same year, the most influential critic of the time—José Francés—remarked derisively on its archaistic character, its dark tones, and the influence of El Greco.

As the caption in the bottom left corner reads, it alludes to psalm 71 of the Book of David: “In you, Lord, I have taken refuge”, in which the psalmist pleads for strength in his old age.