Murillo, Bartolomé Esteban
Murillo, Bartolome (1617-82). An artist whose many religious paintingsemphasized the peaceful, joyous aspects of spiritual life, Bartolome Murillowas the first Spanish painter to achieve renown throughout Europe. In additionto the enormous popularity of his works in his native Seville, Murillo was muchadmired in other countries, particularly England. Here his influence can beseen in the paintings of Sir Joshua Reynolds and John Constable, who paintedduring the 18th and 19th centuries.
Murillowas born in 1617 in Seville. His parents died when he was a child, and he wentto live with a local artist, Juan del Castillo. As might be expected, Murillo’searly works show Castillo’s influence. Under him Murillo learned to turn outreligious pictures that were sold to small churches in Spain and in the Spanishcolonies in America.
At somepoint in his life, probably in the late 1640s, Murillo is believed to havevisited Madrid. In any case, after 1650 his use of color and light and hisnatural, human portrayal of figures seems to show the influence of DiegoVelazquez. In Madrid, Murillo would also have seen paintings by the Flemish andVenetian masters, and the work he did in Seville between 1650 and his deathseems to show these influences, too. Because Murillo did not put a date on mostof his paintings, these changes in his style are often used to determine theorder in which he painted them.
Among thepictures painted when Murillo was a youth are several affectionate studies ofthe ragged boys and the flower girls of Seville. His later works are nearly allserene religious compositions, marked by splendid coloring, great technicalskill, and pious intensity. One striking characteristic of these works is theilluminated mist, populated with angels and cherubs, that surrounds the centralfigures. The few portraits he painted are extremely lifelike. In 1660 Murillohelped found a public academy of art in Seville and served as its firstpresident.
In 1681Murillo was in Cadiz, painting the Espousal of St. Catherine onthe walls of the Capuchin monastery there. He fell from the scaffold, and hisdeath on April 3, 1682, apparently resulted from his injuries. Murillo wasburied in the church of Santa Cruz in Seville.
AmongMurillo’s well-known paintings are three versions of the ImmaculateConception. St. Anthony of Padua was another of the subjects that hepainted several times. Many people like best the series he painted for theCharity Hospital in Seville. Among these are Moses Striking the Rock,St. Elizabeth of Hungary Tending the Sick, and St. PeterReleased from Prison.
Список литературы
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