Bartolomé Esteban Murillo Workshop, 17th century

Workshop of BARTOLOMÉ ESTEBAN MURILLO (Seville, 1617 - Cadiz, 1682), 17th century.
"Dolorosa".
Oil on canvas.
Attached report confirming the authorship of Murillo's workshop, issued by Don Enrique Valdivieso.
The original canvas is preserved.
It has perforations and faults.
It has a frame from the beginning of the 20th century.
Measurements: 95 x 68 cm; 110 x 83 cm (frame).
The Marian invocation of the Dolorosa, especially popular during the Spanish Baroque period, reached the highest expressive quotas in Murillo's hand by bringing closeness and intimacy to the dramatic episode of the Passion. In the present canvas, the theme is imbued with great feeling and artistic quality. Aesthetically the work is very close to the painting of the Dolorosa by the Sevillian painter, now in the Museo del Prado collection. There are clear similarities in the expressive recollection, the fleshy half-open lips, the shining eyes on the threshold of weeping.... Here, however, we see Mary almost full-length, the light sliding over her soft features, the light work emphasising the nuances of sustained pain, as opposed to the half-light that envelops the figure and gives it sculptural consistency, with the broad interplay of the intense blue of the cloak, the red of the tunic and the white veil. We can appreciate the type of Virgin, of great gentleness and naturalism, typical of the master, as well as a chromaticism based on subtle gradations that manage to create a masterly aerial perspective, accompanied by the use of transparent tones and resplendent luminous effects. Also typical of the master is his close and human, counter-reformist interpretation, as well as his expressive intensity, which connects directly with popular fervour through a language based on his knowledge of the Italian and Flemish schools.
Little is known of Murillo's childhood and youth except that he lost his father in 1627 and his mother in 1628, for which reason he was taken into the care of his brother-in-law. Around 1635 he must have begun his apprenticeship as a painter, most likely with Juan del Castillo, who was married to a cousin of his. This working and artistic relationship lasted about six years, as was customary at the time. After his marriage in 1645 he embarked on what was to be a brilliant career that gradually made him the most famous and sought-after painter in Seville. The only trip he is known to have made is documented in 1658, when Murillo was in Madrid for several months. It is conceivable that while at court he kept in touch with the painters who lived there, such as Velázquez, Zurbarán and Cano, and that he had access to the collection of paintings in the Royal Palace, a magnificent subject of study for all the artists who passed through the court. Despite the few documentary references to his mature years, we know that he enjoyed a comfortable life, which enabled him to maintain a high standard of living and have several apprentices. Having become the city's leading painter, surpassing even Zurbarán in fame, he was determined to raise the artistic level of local painting. In 1660 he decided, together with Francisco Herrera el Mozo, to found an academy of painting, of which he was the main driving force.