Bartolomé Esteban Murillo: Master of the Spanish Baroque

Life and Legacy of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (Seville, 1617–1682) belongs to the generation following Velázquez. He resigned from the Court, choosing to live in Seville, and never visited Italy; he earned his living by selling his works. Death weighed heavily on his family; an orphan as a child, he was soon widowed and witnessed the death of six of his nine children. He mitigated his solitude through his membership in the brotherhoods of Seville and turned to teaching drawing at the Academy of Art and Painting, which he founded in 1660.

Society rewarded him with celebrity and fame. His reputation crossed borders, and he befriended Flemish merchants like Nicolas Omazur, who commissioned profane paintings for the bourgeoisie.

The Three Artistic Periods of Murillo

The foreign romantic style of Murillo is traditionally divided into three distinct periods: cold, warm, and steamy.

The Cold Period

The cold period represents his juvenile stage. It derives from the influence of Zurbarán and is characterized by strong contrasts of light, accurate drawing, and smooth brushwork. Some paintings from this initial stage featuring chiaroscuro include Virgin of the Rosary and The Holy Family with a Bird.

The Warm Period

The warmer period began in 1656 with the Vision of St. Anthony in the Seville Cathedral. Murillo began to paint huge canvases, incorporating Venetian effects. The tenebrism of the backlight disappears, the paint becomes looser, and the colors grow brighter.

The Steamy Period

The steamy (or vaporous) period is typical of his later years; the color is clear and he creates great pictures using a diffused technique. In 1669, he produced works for the side altars of the Capuchin Convent, including: St. Francis Embracing the Crucified, Adoration of the Shepherds, and St. Thomas of Villanueva Distributing Alms.

He also painted six works of Mercy for the Church of the Hospital de la Caridad. On the sides of the presbytery, he represented the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes and Moses Bringing Forth Water from the Rock. On the walls of the nave, he depicted the Return of the Prodigal Son, the Three Angels, the Healing of the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda, and the Release of St. Peter.

He also plastically illustrated the paintings of the two side altars: Saint John of God Transporting a Sick Man and Queen Saint Elizabeth Healing the Sick.

Religious and Secular Themes

Until his death, Murillo’s grace focused on grandstanding visions of the Immaculate Conception, dressed in blue and white with a throne of angels at her feet. He also created famous representations of San Juanito and the Baby Jesus, such as Children of the Shell, San Juanito with the Lamb, and The Good Shepherd.

The affable and pious character of these subjects finds a counterpart in the secular field with works like Boys Eating Pie, Boys Eating Grapes, and Boys Playing Dice. These street scenes, lacking in bitterness, make him a significant precursor of the Rococo style.