Bartolomé Esteban Murillo ( , ; late December 1617, baptized January 1, 1618April 3, 1682) was a Spanish

Baroque painter Baroque painting is the painting associated with the Baroque cultural movement. The movement is often identified with Absolutism, the Counter Reformation and Catholic Revival,Frick Collection portraying him in his 30s, and one in London's

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

portraying him about 20 years later. In 2017–18, the two museums held an exhibition of them.

Childhood

Murillo was probably born in December 1617 to Gaspar Esteban, an accomplished barber surgeon, and María Pérez Murillo. He may have been born in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

or in Pilas, a smaller Andalusian town. It is clear that he was baptized in Santa Maria Magdalena, a parish in Seville in 1618. After his parents died in 1627 and 1628, he became a ward of his older sister Ana and her husband, Juan Agustín Lagares, who coincidentally also happened to be a barber. Murillo seemed to have remained close to the couple considering he did not leave their house until his marriage in 1645. Eleven years later, he was named the executor of Lagares' will despite his sister having already died. Murillo seldom used his father's surname, and instead took his surname from his maternal grandmother, Elvira Murillo.

Early life and formative years

There are few documents on the early years of Murillo's life or on his origins as a painter. In 1633, at 15, Murillo received a license for passage to America with his family. He probably began his artistic career, either during those years or slightly beforehand. Murillo began his art studies in Seville in the workshop of

Juan del Castillo Juan del Castillo (c. 1590 – c. 1657) was a Spanish Baroque painter. Many of his paintings became famous during his time due to his pupil, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. Del Castillo was the youngest brother of the painter Agustín. Both were tra ...

, Murillo's uncle and godfather, as well a skilled painter in his own right. Castillo was characterized by the dryness of his sketches and the loving expressions in the subjects he painted, and Murillo took much of this as inspiration in his early work. His first works were also influenced by

Francisco de Zurbarán Francisco de Zurbarán ( , ; baptized 7 November 1598 – 27 August 1664) was a Spanish painter. He is known primarily for his religious paintings depicting monks, nuns, and martyrs, and for his still-lifes. Zurbarán gained the nickname "Spanish ...

Jusepe de Ribera Jusepe de Ribera (1591 – 1652) was a painter and printmaker, who along with Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and the singular Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artists of Spanish Baroque painting. Referring ...

and

Alonso Cano Alonso Cano Almansa or Alonzo Cano (19 March 16013 September 1667) was a Spanish painter, architect, and sculptor born in Granada.Flemish painting Flemish painting flourished from the early 15th century until the 17th century, gradually becoming distinct from the painting of the rest of the Low Countries, especially the modern Netherlands. In the early period, up to about 1520, the painting ...

and the "Treatise on Sacred Images" of

Molanus Joannes Molanus (1533–1585), often cited simply as Molanus, is the Latinized name of Jan Vermeulen or Van der Meulen, an influential Counter Reformation Catholic theologian of Louvain University, where he was Professor of Theology, and Rector ...

(Ian van der Meulen or Molano). As his painting developed, his more important works evolved towards the polished style that suited the bourgeois and aristocratic tastes of the time, demonstrated especially in his

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

religious works. According to fellow painter and art historian Antonio Palomino, Murillo left Castillo's workshop after feeling he had grown sufficiently skilled in his painting. In 1642, at the age of 26, he allegedly traveled to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, where he most likely became familiar with the work of Velázquez, and saw the work of

Francisco de Palacios Francisco de Palacios, also Francisco Palacios, (1623-January 1652), was a Spanish Baroque painter. Biography De Palacios was initially known through only two small still lifes, acquired in Madrid in late seventeenth century by Count Ferdinan ...

; the rich colors and softly modeled forms of his subsequent work suggest these influences. While it is likely that, like many Sevillian painters, Murillo took inspiration from religious images in an attempt to attract the lucrative American market, there is actually little evidence of Murillo traveling to Madrid. Similar claims, attributed by

Joachim von Sandrart Joachim von Sandrart (12 May 1606 – 14 October 1688) was a German Baroque art-historian and painter, active in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age. He is most significant for his collection of biographies of Dutch and German artists the '' T ...

, a German historian of the time, argue that Murillo also travelled to Italy during the same period. Palomino denies these assertions, arguing that they stem from a refusal of foreigners to acknowledge that Murillo's success had come from Spain, and Spain alone. Palomino, instead, argued that Murillo's skill came from hours spent in his room, studying the natural world. He would use these skills when painting for the public, for the Franciscan convents throughout Spain, and for his fellow painters, who until then had little knowledge of his existence or art. In either case, his style could easily have been learned without leaving Seville from its previous generation of artists, such as Francisco de Zarbara or Francisco de Herrera the Elder.

Career

In 1645, he returned to Seville and married Beatriz Cabrera y Villalobos, with whom he eventually had ten children. Of these children, only five outlived their mother, and only one, Gabriel (1655–1700) later carried on the work of Bartolome as a painter. The year of his marriage, Murillo received the first major commission of his career. This was to paint eleven canvases for the convent of San Francisco in Seville. He worked on this project from 1645 until 1648. These works depicted various stories of Franciscan saints which were not often told at the time. When selecting subjects, Murillo placed an emphasis on praising lives of contemplation and prayer as represented in paintings like ''Saint Francis Comforted by an Angel''. His works vary between the Zurbaránesque

tenebrism Tenebrism, from Italian ' ("dark, gloomy, mysterious"), also occasionally called dramatic illumination, is a style of painting using especially pronounced chiaroscuro, where there are violent contrasts of light and dark, and where darkness becomes ...

of the ''Ecstasy of St Francis'' and a softly luminous style (as in ''Death of St Clare'') that became typical of Murillo's mature work. According to the art historian Manuela B. Mena Marqués, "in ... the ''Levitation of St Giles'' (usually known as ''

The Angels' Kitchen ''The Angels' Kitchen'' is a 1646 oil on canvas painting by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, originally produced for a small Franciscan monastery in the artist's native Seville. From at least 1810 it was in the Alcázar of Seville, before being loot ...

'') and the ''Death of St Clare'' (Dresden, Gemäldegal. Alte Meister), the characteristic elements of Murillo’s work are already evident: the elegance and beauty of the female figures and the angels, the realism of the still-life details and the fusion of reality with the spiritual world, which is extraordinarily well developed in some of the compositions." Similarly in ''Saint Diego Giving Alms'', Murillo carefully places the subjects on parallel planes over black background, and its center, surrounding a boiling pot, are a group of children seemingly bathed in a heavenly glow. In doing so, Murillo managed to combine both tenebrism and luminosity to showcase the glory of aiding the needy and the innocent. Also completed c. 1645 was the first of Murillo's many paintings of children, ''The Young Beggar'' (

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

), in which the influence of Velázquez is apparent. Following the completion of a pair of pictures for the

Seville Cathedral The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See ( es, Catedral de Santa María de la Sede), better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along ...

, he began to specialize in the themes that brought him his greatest successes: the Virgin and Child and the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

After another period in Madrid, from 1658 to 1660, he returned to Seville. Here he was one of the founders of the Academia de Bellas Artes (Academy of Art), sharing its direction, in 1660, with the architect

Francisco Herrera the Younger Francisco Herrera the Younger ("el Mozo"; 1622 – 25 August 1685) was a Spanish painter and architect. Life Born in Seville, he was the second son of Francisco Herrera the Elder ("el Viejo"), and began his career under his father's instru ...

. This was his period of greatest activity, and he received numerous important commissions, among them the altarpieces for the Augustinian monastery, the paintings for Santa María la Blanca (completed in 1665), and others. He died in Seville in 1682, a few months after he fell from a scaffold while working on a fresco at the church of the Capuchines in Cádiz.

Legacy

Murillo had many pupils and followers. The prolific imitation of his paintings ensured his reputation in Spain and fame throughout Europe, and before the 19th century his work was more widely known than that of any other Spanish artist. Artists influenced by his style included

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...

and

Greuze Jean-Baptiste Greuze (, 21 August 1725 – 4 March 1805) was a French painter of portraits, genre scenes, and history painting. Biography Early life Greuze was born at Tournus, a market town in Burgundy. He is generally said to have formed h ...

.Marqués, Manuela B. Mena. "Murillo, Bartolomé Esteban", ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University Press.

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

marked the 400 years since Murillo's birth with a

doodle A doodle is a drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be composed of random and abstract lines or shapes, generally without ever lift ...

on November 29, 2018.

Public collections

The Museo del Prado in Madrid;

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the largest ...

in Saint Petersburg, Russia (such as '' Boy with a Dog''); and the

Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wallace, who built the extensive collection, along ...

in London are among the museums holding works by Murillo. His painting “The Coronation in Heaven of the Mother of God” is on display at the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedralin Bardstown Kentucky. His painting ''Christ on the Cross'' is at the

Timken Museum of Art The Timken Museum of Art is a fine art museum, established in 1965 and located at 1500 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California, close to the San Diego Museum of Art. History The groundwork for the museum was laid in 1951 when Walter ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

. '' Christ After the Flagellation'' is at the

Krannert Art Museum The Krannert Art Museum (KAM) is a fine art museum located at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, Illinois, United States. It has of space devoted to all periods of art, dating from ancient Egypt to contemporary photography ...

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

, Illinois. His work is also found at the

Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art The Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art is a non-profit art museum in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA. It is located on the Oklahoma Baptist University Green Campus, being the campus of the former St. Gregory's University. The museum operated independently of St. ...

in Shawnee, Oklahoma, and at the

Meadows Museum The Meadows Museum, nicknamed "Prado on the Prairie", is a two-story, 66,000 sq. ft.art museum in Dallas, Texas on the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU). Operating as a division of SMU's Meadows School of the Arts, the museum houses one ...

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

in Dallas, Texas.

Selected works

File:Bartolome Esteban Perez Murillo 012.jpg, '' Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'', c. 1640–1645,

Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister The Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (, ''Old Masters Gallery'') in Dresden, Germany, displays around 750 paintings from the 15th to the 18th centuries. It includes major Italian Renaissance works as well as Dutch and Flemish paintings. Outstand ...

, Kassel File:Personificación del Verano.jpg, ''Young Man with a Basket of Fruit'' or ''Personification of Summer'', c. 1640–1650, National Galleries of Scotland File:La gallega de la moneda.jpg, ''The Girl with a Coin'' or ''Girl of Galicia'', c. 1645–1650, Museo del Prado File:Bartolomé Esteban Murillo - The Young Beggar.JPG, '' The Young Beggar'', c. 1645,

, Paris File:Bartolomé Esteban Perez Murillo - Trauben- und Melonenesser.jpg, '' Boys Eating Grapes and Melon'', c. 1645–46,

Alte Pinakothek The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pi ...

, Munich File:San Jerónimo leyendo (Murillo).jpg, ''St. Jerome'', c. 1650–1652, Museo del Prado File:Bartolomé Esteban Murillo - Saint Peter in Tears - Google Art Project.jpg, ''St. Peter in Tears'', c. 1650–1655,

Bilbao Fine Arts Museum The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum (Spanish: ''Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao'', Basque: ''Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa'') is an art museum located in the city of Bilbao, Spain. The building of the museum is located entirely inside the city's Doña Casild ...

File:Bartolomé Esteban Perez Murillo 020.jpg, ''The Virgin of the Rosary'', c. 1650–1655, Museo del Prado File:Isidor von Sevilla.jpeg, ''St.

Isidore of Sevilla Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish people, Spanish scholar, theologian, and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville, archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-cen ...

'', 1654,

Cathedral of Seville The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See ( es, Catedral de Santa María de la Sede), better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along ...

, Spain File:Bartolomé Esteban Perez Murillo 023.jpg, '' Annunciation'', c. 1655–1660,

, Moscow File:Bartolomé Esteban Murillo - Adoration of the Magi - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Adoration of the Magi'', c. 1660,

Toledo Museum of Art The Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo, Ohio. It houses a collection of more than 30,000 objects. With 45 galleries, it covers 280,000 square feet and is currently in th ...

File:Bartolome murillo-san ildefonso.jpg, ''Apparition of the Virgin to St. Ildefonsus'', c. 1660, Museo del Prado File:Murillo, Bartolomé Estéban - Three Boys - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Three Boys'', c. 1660,

Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, South London, which opened to the public in 1817. It was designed by Regency architect Sir John Soane using an innovative and influential method of illumination. Dulwich is the oldest pub ...

File:Bartolomé Esteban Perez Murillo 021.jpg, ''

The Immaculate Conception of El Escorial ''The Immaculate Conception of El Escorial'' is a circa 1660–1665 oil religious painting by the Spanish Baroque artist Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. Murillo's many artistic depictions of the immacula ...

'', c. 1660–1665, Museo del Prado File:Murillo Santa Justa.jpg, '' St. Justa'', c. 1665,

File:SantaRufinaMurillo.jpg, '' St. Rufina'', c. 1665, Meadows Museum File:Murillo Descanso en la huida a Egipto.jpg, ''

Rest on the Flight into Egypt The Rest on the Flight into Egypt is a subject in Christian art showing Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus resting during their flight into Egypt. The Holy Family is normally shown in a landscape. The subject did not develop until the seco ...

'', c. 1665,

, Moscow File:Curacion del paralitico Murillo 1670.jpg, ''Christ Healing the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda'', 1670,

, London File:Bartolomé Esteban Murillo - Saint Rose of Lima - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Saint Rose of Lima'', c. 1670, Lazaro Galdiano Museum, Madrid File:Bartolomé Esteban Perez Murillo - Virgin and Child with St Rosalina of Palermo - WGA16389.jpg, ''Virgin and Child with Saint Rose of Viterbo'', c. 1670,

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum The Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum (in Spanish, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza (), named after its founder), or simply the Thyssen, is an art museum in Madrid, Spain, located near the Prado Museum on one of the city's main boulevards. I ...

, Madrid File:The Barber Institute of Fine Arts - Bartolomé Esteban Murillo - The Marriage Feast at Cana.jpg, ''The Marriage Feast at Cana'', c. 1672,

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is an art gallery and concert hall in Birmingham, England. It is situated in purpose-built premises on the campus of the University of Birmingham. The Grade I listed Art Deco building was designed by Robert ...

, Birmingham File:The Return of the Holy Family from Egypt (Bartolomé Esteban Murillo) - Nationalmuseum - 21281.tif, ''The Return of the Holy Family from Egypt'', Nationalmuseum, Stockholm File:Murillo - Vendedores de fruta.jpg, ''

The Little Fruitseller ''The Little Fruitseller'' is a c.1670-1675 oil on canvas painting by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, held in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, to which it was bequeathed in 1768 by Franz Joseph von Dufresne, a Hofkammerrate. References

Genre p ...

'', c.1670–1675, Alte Pinakothek, Munich File:Bartolomé Esteban Murillo - La Inmaculada Concepción del espejo.jpg, ''The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary'', 1678,

Museo de Arte de Ponce Museo de Arte de Ponce (MAP) is an art museum located on Avenida Las Américas in Ponce, Puerto Rico.Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico Tourism Company. Ven al Sur, page 20. San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2003. It houses a collection of European ...

File:Murillo immaculate conception.jpg, ''The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables'', 1678, Museo del Prado File:Saint Raphael.JPG, '' St. Raphael the Archangel with Bishop Domonte'', c. 1680, Pushkin Museum, Moscow

References

External links

*
Scholarly articles
in English about Bartolomé Esteban Murillo both in web an
PDF
@ th
Spanish Old Masters Gallery

Murillo Biography, Style and Critical Reception

Murillo Gallery at MuseumSyndicate
*
Murillo at ArtRenewalCenter
* , engraved by Robert Graves for The Easter Gift, 1832, with a verse by

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murillo, Bartolome Esteban 1617 births 1682 deaths People from Seville 17th-century Spanish painters Spanish male painters Spanish Baroque painters Painters from Seville Catholic painters Caravaggisti Baroque painters