His robe consists of a monk's habit with wide, pleated sleeves and a hooded collar, fastened with a double rope tied in a knot.

[3][4] The artist included two light sources in the painting: the first strongly illuminates the figure of Saint Francis, while the second emanates from a cloud just before his face.

[3] In the mid-1970s, Polish cardiologist Professor Jan Kwoczyński published his own hypothesis that the person who posed for the painting Ecstasy of St. Francis of Assisi suffered from Marfan syndrome – a genetic connective tissue disorder.

[5] This medical hypothesis is part of the 19th-century speculations about the reasons behind the typically elongated appearance of figures in El Greco's works,[b] but theories regarding the influence of factors outside the artist's conscious intention have met with strong criticism from art experts.

[10] The following year, they described the painting in Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce (Catalog of Art Monuments in Poland), attributing it to the workshop of El Greco.

[16] Information about the discovery appeared in the press three weeks later, on April 1, initially in three newspapers: on the front page of Trybuna Ludu, in Słowo Powszechne, and in Dziennik Bałtycki.

[23][27] Based on this discovery, and considering the results of all the studies, a three-person commission from the Ministry of Culture and Art, appointed by Minister Józef Tejchma, confirmed on 30 September 1974 that the painting was indeed an original work of El Greco.

[29] Church authorities were also concerned that the valuable artwork might be seized by the state[3] or high-ranking members of the Polish United Workers' Party.

[9] In 2014, in connection with the international year of El Greco, the work was shown outside Siedlce for the first time – between September 16 and October 31 at the Royal Castle in Warsaw.

[33] The conservation work included pressing on a backing table, filling in areas where the plaster was missing, remounting the canvas on a new wooden stretcher, varnishing, and retouching the paint layer.

[38][39] The same stance regarding the ownership of the painting was taken in 2004 by the diocesan bishop of Drohiczyn, Antoni Dydycz, while the then-director of the Diocesan Museum in Siedlce, Father Henryk Drozd, referred to the papal bull Totus Tuus Poloniae populus of Pope John Paul II from 25 March 1992 to argue that the painting belongs to the Siedlce curia.

[19] On 1 February 2007, the Apostolic Nunciature to Poland issued a certificate stating that from the perspective of canon law, the painting remains the property of the parish in Kosów Lacki.

[30] According to Elżbieta Przegalińska, a resident of Łódź who gave interviews to two local newspapers in 1974 (Dziennik Łódzki in May and the socio-cultural weekly Odgłosy in November), the painting was in Spain in the early 19th century.

[41] On 16 April 1914, during the 10th anniversary of their wedding, Stanisław Skórzewski – moved by the admiration expressed for the restored painting by Father Władysław Chotkowski [pl], a guest at the celebration – removed the canvas from its frame, rolled it up, and gave it to the priest.

Before his death, Father Kamieński sold the painting to Canon Władysław Stępień, the parson of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kosów Lacki from 1948 to 1968.

[18][41][42] Dr. Izabella Galicka critically assessed the credibility of Elżbieta Przegalińska's account, raising doubts about the removal of the painting from its frame and its alleged restoration.

[18] However, Przegalińska's version found at least partial confirmation in a catalog text for the Poznań exhibition Spanish Painting from the 14th to 18th Century in Polish Collections, published in 1967 (several years before her interviews).

[2] The curator, Anna Dobrzycka, suggested that the painting originated from the collection of Stanisław Skórzewski in Raszkówek, though she did not substantiate this claim with sources.

[25] Izabella Galicka and Hanna Sygietyńska found that Michał Ryka's antique shop was located at 8 Bracka Street [pl] in Warsaw before the war, and after the owner's death in 1930, it was run by his wife Maria, née Schoenborn.

It was suspected, among other things, that the painting: Despite research and expert opinions, the debate over the authenticity of the artwork has persisted almost continuously since it was attributed to El Greco.

[44] However, there is no information indicating that such expert assessments or studies have been conducted outside of Poland or by foreign specialists focused on El Greco's work.

[2][23] Similar opinions were expressed by other authorities in the field of art history at the time, including Jan Białostocki and Marek Rostworowski.

[23] According to Izabella Galicka's account, Kopydłowski did not even mention the Ecstasy of St. Francis of Assisi painting in his preliminary inventory, let alone attribute it to Honthorst.

[51] In response to information from Piotr Frączek from the Laboratory of Analysis and Non-Destructive Testing of Heritage Objects at the National Museum in Kraków and Professor Iwona Szmelter from the Department of Conservation and Restoration of Art Works at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, who stated that the painting was undoubtedly an original by El Greco, Dr. Morka commented: "It has not been possible to conclusively determine whether the signature on the painting is authentic".