Pedro
BerrugueteGoya
Bartolomé Murillo
Francisco Ribalta
José de Ribera
Joaquín Sorolla
Velázquez
Ignacio Zuloaga
Francisco Zurbarán
El Prado Museum
Pedro
Berruguete
Goya
Bartolomé Murillo
Francisco Ribalta
José de Ribera
Joaquín Sorolla
Velázquez
Ignacio Zuloaga
Francisco Zurbarán
El
Prado Museum
Pedro Berruguete was born in Paredes de Nava, Palencia, o/a 1450. Not much is known about his childhood or his life before becoming the most important “transitional” painter in Spain between the Gothic and Renaissance eras. The first historical reference to Berruguete was in 1477 during his stay in Urbino, Italy, where Federigo di Montefeltro had commissioned Joos van Wassenhove to decorate various rooms in his beautiful palace. Berruguete collaborated in this task by making several allegories and paintings; including a portrait of the “Duke and his son”, and one of “Pope Sixto IV”, in which he demonstrated his mastery of tactile values, physical space, and depth.
Berruguete returned to Castile o/a 1483 where he painted murals on the walls of the Sacred Chapel of the Cathedral of Toledo. In 1494 he got a commission from Inquisitor Tomás de Torquemada to work on the main retable at the convent of St. Thomas in Avila. One of his most important works “Auto de Fe de Santo Domingo de Guzmán” was made there (it is currently at the Prado museum).
Some of his most famous works include those made for the retable of “St. Thomas” in Avila, the retable at the church of “St. Eulalia” in Paredes de Nava, the “Annunciation” for the Carthusian monastery in Miraflores, and the “Holy Family” (1500). His paintings of Kings, Aristocrats, and Prophets made him a forerunner among Spanish portraitists of the fifteenth century. His narrative scenes and the naturalism of his works made him standout from his contemporaries.
His paintings of Virgins often show them sitting down on cushions on the ground doing their labors. They all have long hair, including the Virgin Mary, who he depicted once standing up listening to a priest. Of particular interest is his painting of St. Ann, in front of a book under a tree.
His pre-eminence derives from his eclecticism and the spirit of humanity that permeate from his art. His early works have a definite Flemish and Italian Renaissance influence; but his themes are representative of the Spanish culture and rooted on Gothic ideals and forms. Berruguete's influence is clearly apparent in the work of many Spanish painters in the early sixteenth century. His last commission was to work on the main retable of the Cathedral of Avila, a task he could not finish. Pedro Berruguete died in Avila in 1504.
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was born in the village of Fuendetodos, Aragón in 1746. His father was a painter and a gilder of altar pieces, his mother was a member of an aristocratic family from Aragón. He began his formal painting studies at the age of 14 at the Escuelas Pias in Zaragoza with a local master named José Martin Luzán.
In 1763 Goya went to Madrid hoping to win a prize at the Royal Fine Arts Academy of San Fernando that would give him the visibility needed to succeed as an artist. That did not happen and after a disappointing period in Madrid, Goya went to Italy in 1771 where he did relatively well in an art competition in Parma. His brother-in-law Francisco Bayeu found him a job at the Royal Tapestry Factory of Santa Bárbara when Goya returned to Madrid in 1773. There he created cartoons for the tapestry depicting bright, colorful, and popular themes evoking everyday life in Madrid. Some of the best known are The Parasol, The Crockery Seller, and Playing at Giants. Bayeu was also very influential in getting Goya his first commissions, the fresco decoration at the Church of Santa Maria del Pilar in Zaragoza; and a fresco for a convent called the Cartuja of Aula Dei, near Zaragoza. These beautiful works, which represented scenes from contemporary Spanish life were precursors to one of his greatest works, a fresco at the Church of San Antonio de la Florida in Madrid in 1798.
His main sources of inspiration and role models were Diego Velázquez and Rembrandt, but the varied themes in his paintings are very much the result of his impetuous personality. Trained in the frivolous rococo style that prevailed in that era, Goya managed to transform it to create works as intense as his Third of May 1808, a piece that is as stunning today as it was then. He developed his own broad and bold painting technique, always demonstrating a remarkable display of psychological acumen.
Goya met the royal family in early 1779 and petitioned the King to become a Court painter. Although his petition was initially denied he became a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1780, and was the assistant director of that renowned institution five year later. In 1786 Goya achieved his dream and the pinnacle of his career when he was appointed painter of King Charles III, a great promoter of the arts and culture; and became the prime Court painter in 1799. His paintings of the royal family; his tapestries and cartoons, portray the lifestyle of Spain in that era, and were highly praised and popular. In fact, Goya revolutionized the tapestry industry which until then was dominated by Flemish motifs. Several of his most beautiful and elegant portraits of friends and the nobility date from the 1780s.
Goya contracted a serious disease during a visit to southern Spain in late 1792 that left him completely deaf. He became extremely depressed and his mood of absolute pessimism is apparent in the works he made during that terrible time in his life. In 1797 he began to draw and etch a series of prints called Los Caprichos (The Caprices) which exhibit a satirical sense of humor that seems to mock the superstitions that prevailed in that era. These were followed by another two series called Desastres de la Guerra (Disasters of War, 1810) and Disparates (Absurdities, 1820) which portray a very caustic depiction of humanity.
The battles between French soldiers and the Spanish citizenry made an indelible impression on Goya. The horrors of war and the brutal massacres of unarmed street fighters by French soldiers are depicted in two of his best paintings, the Second and Third of May, 1808, both of which are at the world famous Prado Museum in Madrid. Both are painted, like so many of his pictures, in thick, bold strokes of dark color punctuated by brilliant yellow and red highlights. During the Peninsular War Goya painted some of the most prominent figures of that time including Joseph Bonaparte (Napoleon’s brother), Ferdinand VII, and the English Duke of Wellington
Later portraits, such as the “Family of Charles IV”, expose the
human character of the models, lined up before the observer. These portraits
also emphasize changes in feminine fashion and some include pets or
characters on horseback. A portrait of Juana Galarza de Goicoechea is a sample
of the artist’s talent for miniature paintings.
The most controversial, macabre and, perhaps, some of his best works are his
Black Paintings, in which he depicts scenes of witchcraft and other bizarre
activities. Most of them were painted in fresco on the walls of
Goya’s
country house, and were later transferred to canvas. He did these works towards
the end of his life until the political oppression that existed in Spain during
the rule of Ferdinand VII became intolerable. When the French forces were
expelled from Spain Goya was accused of being a French sympathizer, and although
he was exonerated by King Ferdinand VII he chose to go into voluntary exile in
France in 1824. During his self imposed exile in Bordeaux he took up what was
then the new and revolutionary art of lithography. His lithographs of
bullfighting scenes are considered some of the best ever made. A portrait of
Juan B.
Muguiro
is an example of the experiences acquired by Goya during his 60 year career, and
the abilities and techniques that made him one of the forerunners of the vanguard movement
of 19th century
European painting. Francisco de Goya y
Lucientes,
one of the greatest Spanish painters, died in Bordeaux on April 16, 1828.
Bartolomé
Esteban Murillo was born in Seville in 1618. His parents died when he was a
child; he grew up in the house of Juan del Castillo, an uncle and local
artist. As a young man he spent time working as an apprentice in the studios of
several local painters. He also expanded his education by studying Italian and
Flemish paintings at local churches and some aristocratic collections from the
baroque and renaissance periods. His rather limited formal education was easily
overcome by his extraordinary talent with the brush, his innate technical
skills, and his natural artistic intuition.
Murillo became famous within and outside Spain for his religious and secular
subjects. His initial works were somewhat dry in character, but after a visit
to Madrid in the late 1640s his style changed dramatically when he developed a
warm and sensitive style that made him one of the greatest painters of Spain.
His painting style was clearly influenced by the Flemish school and by
Ribera
and Zurbarán,
but unlike them he abandoned the hard ascetic style of painting in favor of
religious themes of great sensibility and grace to emphasize the
peaceful and joyous aspects of spiritual life. Some of his religious
masterpieces include La Inmaculada
Concepción (The Immaculate Conception), La
Sagrada familia del Pajarito
(The Holy Family with Little Bird), El
Divino
Pastor (The Divine Shepherd), Jesús
con San Juan Bautista (Jesus with John the Baptist), the Adoration of the
Shepherds, the Virgin of the Rosary, many compositions of the Virgin and Child,
and a series of paintings for the Charity Hospital in Seville.
Murillo’s religious paintings are marked
by splendid coloring, and pious intensity.
An interesting characteristic of these works is the illuminated mist, populated
with angels and cherubs, surrounding the main characters. His
Madonnas
are portrayed as beautiful women, and his Saints often take the form of popular
Spanish characters to provide an unprecedented element of realism.
His
secular paintings often depict poverty-stricken children in a very pathetic and
touching manner, always exhibiting a great amount of tenderness and realism in
settings that show a mix of vigorous light and shade. Most of his paintings of
children and common folk are dispersed in museums in Spain, England, France and
Russia. Among these the best known are the Young Beggar,
Niños comiendo fruta
(Children eating fruit), Los
vendedores de fruta (The fruit grocers), and
Abuela limpiando al niño
(Grandmother cleaning a child).
In addition to his immense popularity in his native Spain,
Bartolomé
Murillo was one of the first Spanish painters to achieve fame overseas. His popularity in England can be seen in the influence he exerted on
the paintings of 18th and 19th century masters Sir Joshua
Reynolds and John Constable. His works did, indeed, lead the way towards the
development of European painting in the 18th and 19th
centuries.
He was the first President of the Seville Academy, an institution founded in 1660. In 1681, he was in Cádiz painting the Espousal of St. Catherine on the walls of the Capuchin monastery in that city. He fell from the scaffold and died as a result of his injuries on April 3, 1682. Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was buried in the church of Santa Cruz in Seville. Murillo lived an intense professional life and was able to exercise a prolonged influence on future artists by virtue of his gentle and reposed works, portrayed with solid outlines and expressive brushstrokes.
Francisco Ribalta was born in Solsona, Catalonia, in 1565. His father was Joan Ribalta; his mother’s name was Magdalena, a family of modest means. After the death of his parents in 1581, Ribalta traveled to Madrid where he studied painting. He worked with the Spanish and Italian artists that were decorating El Escorial palace, where he adopted a Mannerist style . His first known work “The Nailing to the Cross” is an excellent example of his early paintings.
After the death of King Philip II in 1598, Ribalta moved to Valencia where its Archbishop took him under his protection. Ribalta devoted most of his career to religious subjects, which was very much in line with his spiritual beliefs. In Valencia he imposed a realist style similar to that of Caravaggio, an influence that is evident in many of his works including “St. Francis Comforted by an Angel Musician” and “Christ Embracing St. Bernard”. His output slowed down after the death of the archbishop in 1611. By 1620 his style was mostly Italian Baroque, with emphasis on the chiaroscuro tone and austere themes. His work influenced several Spanish painters, including Jerónimo Jacinto Espinosa, and his own son, Juan.
Juan Ribalta was born in Madrid in 1596. Juan adopted the naturalist tenebrous style of his father to the point that they are often referred to as one painter. Some of his works include “St. John the Evangelist”, and “St. Mathew and St. John”. Juan died in 1628, at the age of 32. Francisco Ribalta also died in 1628. Many of his works can be admired in museums throughout the world.
José de Ribera, known as “El Españoleto or Lo Spagnoletto”, was born in Játiva (Xátiva), Valencia, Spain, in 1591. He studied painting in Valencia with Francisco Ribalta, who exerted tremendous influence on his style. His father was a soldier who spent a considerable amount of time at various Italian fortresses and cities; and later became a shoemaker in Valencia. Ribera lost his mother when he was six years old. His father’s travels in Italy may have contributed to Ribera’s decision to go to that country when he was 20 year old.
Ribera lived at the Via Margutta in Rome for two years with his brother Juan and two young painters from Zaragoza. There is considerable evidence that by then he had adopted a naturalist style, with a certain amount of Flemish influence, and that his paintings were selling well. His bohemian lifestyle, laziness, and a growing debt forced him to move to Naples where he got a commission from Marco Antonio Doria. During his stay in Rome he became a member of the prestigious Academy of Saint Lucas.
Shortly after his arrival in Naples, Ribera married Caterina, a daughter of Italian painter Giovanni Azzolino. The couple had five children Antonio Simone (1627), Jacinto Tomás (1628), Margarita (1630), Anna Luisa (1631) and Francisco Antonio (1634). Ribera opened his own studio shortly after his wedding. One of his first most important works was a portrait of St. Martin for the church of St. Prosperous in Parma.
He became the favorite baroque painter of the Duke of Osuna, the Duke of Alba, the Duke of Alcala, the Count of Monterrey, the Duke of Medina de las Torres, and other Spanish Viceroys in Naples, as well as several religious congregations. He was propelled to the forefront of his art when he painted his famous “Calvary” for Pedro Téllez Girón, the Duke of Osuna. Shortly thereafter he was appointed a Court Painter by the Spanish monarchs. In spite of his voluntary stay in Italy he always asserted in his signatures and engravings that he was a Spaniard.
His dependence on “tenebrism”, characterized by bloody martyrdom scenes, reveal the influence that Caravaggio exerted on him; however, Ribera eventually adopted his own style based on luminous, calm and rich colors to emphasize the beauty and personality of characters. The sensitivity of his work demonstrates his respect for the dignity of his subjects. His naturalist themes, often in the form of diagonal rays of light give the illusion of coming from outside the painting, while the background of the scene remains dark, giving his portraits a sense of reality. His use of chiaroscuro tones give his paintings a vibrating energy and make them very attractive when viewed from a distance or when examined closely. Most of his works are in his native Spain, but there are some at the Cathedral of Naples and in other European cities.
His exceptional craftsmanship influenced many of the great masters including Velázquez, Rembrandt, Turner and Zurbarán. Ribera drew reality as superbly as Raphael drew beauty. His religious paintings demonstrate deep expressions of love for Christianity, and are a reflection of his convictions and the passion he felt for the themes in his works. He avoided the use of mystical overtones and, instead, portrayed the apostles and Saints as fishermen, craftsmen, hermits or martyrs. His fame spread throughout Europe when his father in law began to sell his paintings and engravings overseas. His engravings, with their masterful designs and realism, are the best of his time.
A fundamental change took place in early 1634 when he was commissioned by the Count of Monterrey to do a series of paintings for the Augustine convent in Salamanca, among these paintings was his masterpiece the “Immaculate Conception” for which he used different color schemes and a diffused luminosity that are reminiscent of the style used by the Venetian School. His color schemes changed dramatically around 1647, when he began to use richer tones. His use of gray as a background in his paintings is very beautiful; an example of this late evolution is “The Martyrdom of St. Philip. This change is also evident in his paintings of women and children for whom he showed a tenderness and love that was lacking in the early stages of his career.
Some of his most famous paintings include the “Immaculate Conception”, “St. Jerome” (1652) and the “Virgin in the Adoration of the Shepherds”. Some of his best secular paintings include a portrait of philosopher “Archimedes” (1630), a portrait of “Magdalena Ventura and her husband” (1631), “Allegory to Tact” (1632).
His brilliant career brought him prosperity and recognition, including being made a Knight of the Order of Christ by Pope Innocence X in 1644. Unfortunately his lavish lifestyle and bad investments denied him the opportunity of ending his days as a prosperous man. His life was further complicated by the uprisings that took place in northern Italy against the Spanish occupation. When Juan José de Austria, an illegitimate son of King Philip IV, was sent to Italy to put down the rebellion and reestablish Spanish authority, he had an affair with Anna, one of Ribera’s daughters; a baby girl was born from this relationship. Ribera was deeply affected by this episode, which coupled with a long illness precluded him from painting during the last few years of his life. José de Ribera died in poverty in 1652.
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1863. Sorolla became an orphan at a very early age, and was raised in Valencia by an aunt and uncle. He began studying art when he was fifteen with Cayetano Capuz, a sculptor at the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts. He showed an interest and aptitude for painting at an early age, and an emerging talent when he tried to capture the luminosity of the Mediterranean Sea in his early works on the beach and in nearby orchards. He went to Madrid when he was eighteen; where he frequented the Prado Museum and copied paintings by the great masters in an effort to perfect his technique. His early works were so well received that he won a scholarship to take advanced lessons in Rome and Paris where he developed the ability to depict the effects of light.
By the time he returned to Madrid in 1890 his paintings were already in great demand. The paintings he exhibited at the 1901 Exposition Universelle in Paris were very successful and brought him international recognition. In 1911, the Hispanic Society of America, presided by Archer Milton Huntington, commissioned him to paint decorative Spanish scenes for their library in New York City. He painted portraits of many famous persons throughout his life including United States President William Howard Taft, Louis Comfort Tiffany (Tiffany lamps family), and King Alfonso XIII of Spain.
In addition to several beautiful paintings of his wife and daughters he focused on social issues, such as the high price of fish (1894), and on the historical circumstances that dominated that era. His popularity extended itself throughout Europe were he had several exhibits in Paris, Berlin, Cologne, and London. His travels to these cities helped him overcome traditional values and themes and reinforced his inclination for the “open air” style that was so in vogue among French impressionists.
Some of his best works include a portrait of “Aureliano de Beruete” (1902), and Valencian landscapes such as “Niños en la playa” (1910), “Paseo a orillas del mar” (1909), and “El baño del caballo” (1909).
He became gravely ill in 1920, and died in 1923. His widow donated a large collection of his paintings to the people of Spain. They can be seen at the Museo Sorolla, in the artist’s house in Madrid. Sorolla was one of the best impressionist painters of his generation; and became an academic at the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in 1914. He won numerous awards; among the most prestigious were the Grand Prix in the Paris Exposition in 1900, and the Spanish National Medal for Fine Arts in 1892 and 1895.
Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez was born in Seville in 1599, the oldest of six children. His parents belonged to what is commonly referred to as “the lesser nobility.” He began studying painting with Francisco Herrera at the age of 12; and worked as an apprentice in the studio of Francisco Pacheco, a Sevillian Mannerist painter who later became his father-in-law. Pacheco taught his young pupil realism, perspective, proportion and coloring. Pacheco, who was the director of an informal humanist academy, introduced Velazquez to poet Luis de Góngora y Argote, whose portrait he painted in 1622. The long conversations with the poet made a lasting impression on the young man, and are evident in his mythological and classical paintings. Velazquez learned quickly and developed a very unique style that set him apart from his contemporaries and made him standout among all other Spanish painters. Diego and Juana moved to Madrid shortly after their marriage.
His first painting as an independent master was most likely “The Meal”, which reflects his early tendencies for naturalist motifs and realism, at a time when realism was not popular. His paintings fall into four major categories, “bodegones” (dining room or kitchen pieces), portraits, landscapes, and religious scenes. His “bodegones” usually consist of figures with inanimate objects. His portraits display a wonderful effect of light and shadow and include both common folks and Court notables. His religious paintings, and there are many, portray models from the streets of Seville and, sometimes, members of his own family or himself posing as biblical figures. An example of the latter is the “Adoration of the Magi”.
In 1623, he became the official painter of Philip IV only two years after this monarch’s ascent to the throne. A new and fundamental change occurred during this period when Court painting enabled artists to go beyond the limits marked by religious themes. Velazquez first portrait of the King was a sober rendition that set the tone for many other portraits of the royal family and members of the Court. Most of his work throughout the 1620s was focused on portraits, with the exception of occasional mythological subjects such as “Bacchus” and “The Drinkers”. These exceptions confirm the artist’s interest in realism and mythology. He did these works in addition to his duties as a Court official and architect, positions that included special tasks such as decorating new rooms in the royal palaces. He was also in charge of the royal household and, in that capacity, he was responsible for the royal quarters and for planning ceremonies. The King admired him and respected him so much for his work and integrity that he made him a Knight of the Order of Santiago. Unfortunately, his numerous Court duties limited his artistic output, most of which is at the Prado.
Velázquez visited Italy in 1629 and, again, in 1649. During these visits he copied masterpieces and/or bought many paintings by Titian, Tintoretto and Paolo Veronese for the King’s collection. During these journeys he studied the art of the Renaissance and contemporary painting. He also managed to paint wonderful portraits of Pope Innocent X and Juan de Pareja; and became a member of Rome’s Academy of Saint Luke.
When he returned to Madrid after his first trip to Italy his work reflected a greater concern for the unity of mood and atmosphere. His total abandonment of his early baroque style changed in favor of an open lucidity, that could be considered a precursor to 19th century impressionism, are obvious in his works during this period including a lively series of portraits of nobles, dwarfs, and buffoons; a portrait of King Philip called “Fraga Philip”; and his masterpiece “The Surrender of Breda”. The latter captures such a range of emotions in a single painting that it is often considered the most celebrated historical composition of the Spanish baroque period.
His most important works as a matured artist are the “Fable of Arachne” a mythological work of great symbolism; and his masterpiece “Las Meninas”, a portrait of the royal family in which the artist can be seen working in the background. His works during the last years of his life are remarkable for their dramatic construction, the use of clarity to establish focus, and balanced planar rather than linear perspectives. One of his greatest gifts was to infuse his canvases with life in spite of the stiffed formality of many of his patrons.
His inimitable skills in merging light, color, space, mass and rhythm of line in a way that all have equal value earned him the title of “painter of painters”. Some of his skills were transferred to those he taught, including the well known Bartolomé Murillo, and to the many famous painters whose works were influenced by him including masters such as Goya, Manet, Courbet and James McNeill Whistler.
In 1660 Velazquez was asked to arrange the wedding ceremonies of the Infanta Maria Teresa to King Louis XIV of France. His work as a painter, coupled with his duties in court, including this elaborate affair proved to be too much for him. Velázquez became gravely ill, could not recover and died in 1660. Velázquez was called the "noblest and most commanding man among the artists of his country." No painter has surpassed his ability to seize essential features and put them on canvas with a few broad, bold strokes. "His men and women seem to breathe," it has been said; "his horses are full of action and his dogs are full of life." Velázquez, more than anyone else, raised Spanish art to its highest level.
Ignacio Zuloaga was born in Eibar, Basque Country, in 1870. Ignacio went to Rome in 1891 and a year later went to Paris to further his skills at the Palette Studio with Chavannes. He lived in Montmartre from 1892 to 1899, where his fascination with French impressionism was solidified through his contacts with Degas, Gauguin, Toulouse Lautrec and Rodin. However, he abandoned traditional impressionism shortly thereafter and developed his own form of Spanish expressionist realism using themes based on the things he loved the most, bullfighting and Andalusian scenes; which make his works a portrayal of Spanish life in the 1890s and the early 1900s.
Zuloaga was a member of what is often referred to as the Generation of 1898; those who after the defeat suffered during the war against the United States found strength and solace through the revitalization of a national culture. In “Impresiones de Arte”, painter and poet Santiago Rusiñol described Zuloaga as follows: “strongly built, like the peasants of his land, with a straight, generous character and no weakness. He never compromised. In his opinion, men were usually bandits or heroes, women were either real devils or saints, and paintings were either fit to be thrown on the fire or be exhibited at the Louvre”.
His love for life in the plateaus of central Spain prompted him to move to Segovia where he found the inspiration needed to capture some of the people and themes he admired the most. His best known works were made during his stay in Segovia from 1902 to 1920. He eventually moved to Zumaia, where there is a museum with many of his paintings. Some of his works were considered controversial, including “El Cristo de la sangre” which represents the idiosyncrasies of the Spanish people. He created several museums including the Villa Zuloaga, also known as Santiago Echea, in Guetaria near San Sebastián; Pedraza de la Sierra Castle, situated in one of the most medieval landscapes in Spain; and the Museo Zuloaga in Segovia.
Zuloaga’s early works exemplify the light style that is so typical of a young artist, but it quickly evolved into an excellent and very personal style focused on subjects that characterize the traditions and folklore of Spain. He was clearly influenced by Ribera, Murillo and Goya in his scenes of “picaros” and “manolas”; as can be seen in works such as The Balcony (Buenos Aires, National Museum of Fine Arts), Lolita the Little Gypsy (Triest, Civic Museum of Modern Art), The Giant Francisco and His Wife (Spain, private collection), The New Grape Harvest (Buenos Aires, National Museum of Fine Arts), My Cousins (Musée du Luxembourg), and Lucienne Bréval in the Second Act of Carmen (New York, Metropolitan Museum).
Zuloaga was one of the most popular painters in Europe in the early 1900s, giving numerous exhibitions in places such as Rome, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Vienna and Venice. He had his first exhibition in New York City in 1909; and won the Grand Award in Rome in 1911. Ignacio Zuloaga died in 1945.
Francisco Zurbarán was born in 1598 in Fuente de Cantos, in the southern part of the province of Badajoz, Spain. His father was a Basque merchant that established himself in Extremadura. Zurbarán learned painting as an apprentice in the studio of Pedro Diaz Villanueva, in Seville; and spent time in the studio of Juan de las Roclas. In 1617 he married for the first time and moved to Llerena where he lived for ten years and where he made numerous paintings for convents and churches throughout Extremadura and Andalusia.
When his first wife died, he remarried and moved to Seville in 1629, where he worked for 30 years, except for a two year stay in Madrid in 1634-35. While in Madrid he produced several works for King Philip IV. Some of his best paintings during this period were a series of mythological paintings such as “The Labors of Hercules”; and a large historical scene called “The Defense of Cadiz against the English”. However, with the exception of a few portraits, and some beautiful still-life, he devoted most of his efforts to religious themes.
His first known work, at the age of 18, was the Immaculate Conception (1616). In 1625 the Marquis de Malaga commissioned him to decorate the retable of St. Peter in the Cathedral of Seville. He also painted a series called the “History of St. Bonaventure” (1629) for the Franciscan School in Seville. At the convent of the Mercedarios Descalzos he produced six pictures of the life of St. Peter Nolasco, the founder of the Order of Mercy, and the “Two Visions of St. Peter” (1629). His most famous painting, and one of the best of the Spanish school, was the “Apotheosis of St. Thomas of Aquinas” (1636) which he painted for the chapel of the St. Thomas of Aquinas School in Seville. All these canvasses have a remarkable sense of serenity, strength and nobility.
Some of his best works were made for the monastery of Guadalupe, an old center of pilgrimage in the mountains that separate Extremadura from Castile. He made a total of thirteen pictures for this monastery, including his masterpieces “St. Ildefonso” and “St. Nicholas of Bari”. Other paintings at this monastery relate to the life of St. Jerome. These paintings were made at the artistic height of his career and are considered his best.
In 1650 the Marquis of Campo Alanza commissioned him to paint a series of founders of religious orders, ranging from Elias to St. Ignatius of Loyola, for the Capuchin convent in Castellon. His work slackened after this possibly as a result of the popularity of Murillo. Zurbarán moved to Madrid in 1658 where he tried to make a living as an art dealer, and where he died in poverty in 1664.
Although his work was slightly influenced by those of José Ribera and Diego Velázquez, and later in life by his contemporary Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, his style was unique. His austere naturalism and mystical intensity is complemented by the use of sharply defined brilliant colors, minute detail, three-dimensional modeling figures, and a shadowed light that illuminates his subjects; giving his paintings a sense of dignity and solitude reminiscent of monastic life. Figures are usually depicted against a plain background, standing out with a massive physical presence. His works mix two of the most dominant elements in Spanish art, realism and mysticism.
Many of his Works remain at the religious institutions they were made for, but a large number are at the best Museums in the world including the Prado in Madrid, National Gallery in London, Louvre in Paris, Berlin, Dresden, St. Petersburg, Cleveland, the National Gallery in Washington, DC, and many others.
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