Bartolomé Esteban Murillo's Workshop

Workshop of BARTOLOMÉ ESTEBAN MURILLO (Seville, 1617 - 1682).
"Virgin with Child".
Oil on canvas. Relined from the XIX century.
Measurements: 152 x 106 cm; 173 x 128 cm (frame).
The composition of this work follows the models spread from Murillo's environment, although no original of this version is known. However, the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville conserves a work of identical compositional arrangement, catalogued as a Follower of Murillo (inv. no. CE0145P), which confirms the wide circulation of this iconographic type within the workshop and its immediate surroundings.
The work presents Mary seated, holding the Child Jesus on her knees, in an intimate and recollected composition that favors emotional closeness over the devotional hieratism of previous periods. The scene is set against a dark, neutral background that enhances the corporeality of the figures and concentrates the viewer's attention on the delicate exchange of glances and gestures between mother and son. From the technical point of view, the canvas reveals a painting of remarkable quality, characteristic of the best followers of the master. The modeling is soft and enveloping, built from tonal transitions and a warm light. The folds of the blue mantle and the reddish tunic of the Virgin are solved with ease and elegance, by means of fluid brushstrokes that confer lightness and naturalness to the fabrics, while the treatment of the Child, of plausible anatomy and serene expression-evidence a solid knowledge of drawing and direct observation of the natural.
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo began his training as a painter, probably with his relative Juan del Castillo, with whom he worked for several years. After his marriage in 1645 he began a brilliant career that progressively made him the most prestigious painter in Seville. In 1658 he made a documented trip to Madrid, where he was able to meet masters such as Velázquez, Zurbarán or Cano and study the royal collections. Already in full maturity, he enjoyed a comfortable economic position, maintained a workshop with apprentices and surpassed other local artists in fame. In order to raise the artistic level of the city, he founded in 1660, together with Francisco Herrera el Mozo, an academy of painting. Although his renown was such that, according to Palomino, Charles II offered him to work at court, Murillo remained in Seville until his death. Today his works are preserved in major museums around the world, such as the Prado, the Louvre, the Hermitage and the National Gallery.