Bartolomé Estebán Murillo
Born – Seville, Spain 1618
Died – Seville, Spain 1682
Bartolomé Estebán Murillo spent nearly all his life in Seville. He started his career painting pictures to be sold at fairs. In 1648 he visited Madrid, where he met Velasquez. In 1660, Murillo was one of the Seville Academy and became its first President. He made his reputation with a series of paintings documenting the lives of Franciscan saints for the Franciscan monastery in Seville. His religious paintings display a pious devotion and tenderness distinct form the harsh realism of his contemporaries, Ribera and Velasquez. His mature work comprised genre scenes featuring saints, beggar boys and fruit-sellers, having a softness and sweetness bordering on sentimentality. Children Playing with Dice is one of his more unembroidered paintings. Nowadays it could be considered uncomfortable as a rather provocative, sexualized image of young boys. Murillo was hugely popular during his lifetime, working in a large studio to cater for the demand for his work. By the nineteenth century, his work was considered cloying and his reputation declined.
Masterpieces:
- The Two Trinities
- Self-Portrait
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.