Placidus saved from the water by friar Maurus

Placidus Saved from the Water by Friar Maurus from 1656, now in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, depicts a miracle from the life of Saint Benedict recorded in Gregory the Great's Dialogues. When the young novice Placidus fell into a lake, Benedict saw the accident in a vision and sent Maurus to rescue him — and Maurus, sustained by his obedience to his abbot's command, walked across the water to save the drowning boy. The Benedictine subject reflects Champaigne's connections to monastic patronage in Paris, where several important Benedictine and related religious houses commissioned major decorative works from him. The miracle of Maurus walking on water — understood as an act of perfect obedience rather than independent miracle-working — was theologically significant for monastic communities that valued obedience as the foundation of the religious life. Champaigne's Flemish training — precise brushwork, warm flesh tones, meticulous fabric rendering — applied to a subject shaped by his deep involvement with Jansenist spirituality creates a work of characteristic restraint and gravity.

The aquatic setting is rendered with naturalistic attention to water and light effects, while the miraculous walking on water is depicted with Champaigne's characteristic restraint and plausibility.