Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

BARTOLOMÉ ESTEBAN MURILLO (Seville, 1617 - Cadiz, 1682).
"Child Jesus asleep".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 63 x 70 x 2 cm; 91 x 96 cm (frame).
Presents:
-Stamped on the stretcher frame " Leedham Linen" Francis Leedham (1794-1870), active in London from 1838 to 1850.
-Partially erased inscription on the bottom of the stretcher frame and frame, "13 Murillo Infant saviour Christ Asslep."
-Stamp in illegible blue sealing wax.
-Frame made in England, ca. 1840.
-Christie's MF660 stamp.
Provenance:
-2024 -Current, Spanish collection.
-1993-2024, Malaga private collection.
-1993-1846, whereabouts unknown.
-1846, Rutley collection, London, 5 great Newport Street, art gallery. Acquired by Mary Rutley (1772-1858) for the gallery. No future buyer specified.
-1846, Christie's and Mason, auction of the Edmund Higginson Collection, Saltmarshe Castle, lot 67, first day of sale June 4.
-1838, Henry Artaria, London 73 Saint James Street.
-1832, acquired in Paris by Mr. Artaria at the auction of April 29, lot 85, auction of the Boursault collection. -1832-late 18th century, Monsieur Jean François Boursault Malherbe (1750-1842) Actor, writer, politician in the French Revolution and gallery owner. From his private collection.
-1842, Boursault collection and unknown.

This delicate infantile representation, impregnated with the lyricism and tenderness characteristic of the painter, has remained for decades in anonymity in private collections, until today. The painting, dated around the middle of the 17th century and executed with the luminous softness that distinguishes Murillo's brush, shows us a child Christ placidly asleep, wrapped in an atmosphere of recollection and candor. It echoes other children's compositions by the Sevillian master, such as the famous Niños de la concha or the Niño pastor dormido, where the play of light caresses the rosy flesh and the soft folds of the canvas evoke the sacred world with an almost domestic sensibility.

But beyond its aesthetic value, the painting offers a rich history of provenance that enriches its rediscovery. The first documented reference dates back to the prestigious collection of Monsieur Jean François Boursault Malherbe (1750-1842), actor, writer, politician of the French Revolution and prominent gallery owner. The work was later acquired by Mr. Henry Artaria at the Parisian auction of April 29, 1832 (lot 85), a renowned dealer based at 73 Saint James Street in London.

Artaria acted at this auction as a mediator for the British collector Edmund Higginson, who acquired on the same occasion several outstanding works. Among them was Murillo's "The Adoration of the Shepherds", now in the Wallace Collection in London, which was also the most expensive work sold at auction at the time. Higginson was a fundamental figure in nineteenth-century British collecting. His passion for art and his purchasing power allowed him to form one of the most notable private collections of his time. Many of the works he collected ended up, over time, in some of the most prestigious institutions in the world, such as the National Gallery in London, the Louvre Museum in Paris or the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Subsequently, the painting passed into the hands of the famous Edmund Higginson Collection, in Saltmarsh Castle, being registered as Infant Christ asleep in the guide of works exhibited in the main hall of the house. Its trace becomes especially eloquent in the auction held by Christie's & Mason in June 1846, where it was acquired by a notable figure of British collecting: Mary Rutley (1772-1858).

Mary Rutley's acquisition is particularly significant. At a time when the art world was dominated by men, it was she who, with determination and refined taste, purchased this work for the family art gallery at 5 Great Newport Street, London. Mary Rutley did not act solely on behalf of the gallery: her involvement in the acquisitions of the Higginson collection, along with other figures such as Emery, demonstrates a personal and independent agency in shaping the taste of the time.After its passage through the Rutley collection, the painting disappeared from the records for over a century.

In addition to the documented journey, the work has an interesting material detail: a stamped seal on the reverse, possibly related to the dealer Francis Leedham, and which could match other works acquired by the Rutley's at the same auction in 1846. This mark not only adds veracity to its trajectory, but also makes it possible to establish connections with other pieces of the same provenance conserved in public collections, such as the Canon Hall Museum or the Wernher collection in Luton Hoo.