The 187 of Francisco Zurbaran

The church of the Franciscan college San Buenaventura in Seville was adorned by a narrative cycle on the life of St Bonaventura, the renovator of the Franciscan order. Between 1626 and 1628 Herrera painted the four scenes describing the saint's youth, placed on the left wall of the nave; Zurbarán wa...

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A 1628 oil on canvas painting. Saint Serapion is depicted by Zurbaran in a quasi-crucified pose, standing with each hand bound by ropes and chain to an overhead horizontal pole. The painting stops at the figure's knee level, while the strain placed on his arms is indicated by the heavy hanging folds...

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The painting of St Casilda follows a typology invented by Zurbaran and repeated in other paintings of martyr saints. The saint is represented full-length in half profile, with the appearance and rich clothing of a young woman of the 17th century. She is shown taking part in a procession, set against...

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Zurbarán's picture of St Andrew is in marked contrast to Ribera's dramatic representation of the crucifixion of the saint. There is the same close observation of detail, but Zurbarán's picture has the calm majesty seen in the work of El Greco. These various qualities Zurbarán blends into a unity wit...

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Born in Catania, Sicily, at the foot of Mount Etna, Agatha decided to remain a virgin and dedicate her life to Christ. The Prefect of Sicily, Quintian, hearing of her great beauty, tried to seduce her. Faced with her rejection, he sent her into a brothel, but even there she miraculously preserved he...

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Born in 1181 or 1182 in Assisi as the son of a wealthy draper, he died in poverty in the same town on 3 October 1226. Francis' life of poverty, humility, selflessness and serene neighbourly love made the order of Friars Minor which he founded one of the most widespread religious orders in the entire...

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In 1638 Zurbarán received order from the Carthusians of Jerez which consisted principally of two parts: five large and two small canvases for the monumental altarpiece of the church, and eight portraits of distinguished members of the order, accompanied by two images of angels with censers, which we...

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Zurbarán at his best may be said to have given new life to certain qualities found in the Mozarabic miniatures and Romanesque panel paintings - majesty, serenity and brilliance of colour. He had already made his name, and was a court painter - though he had not yet come under the not altogether feli...

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Whereas the names and works of Velázquez and Murillo were known and appreciated by European connoisseurs at a relatively early date, Zurbarán was scarcely known outside Spain, and even now there are not very many of his works to be found in European galleries. Born in Fuente de Cantos, a small villa...

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This painting depicts a fine white ceramic cup filled with water, resting on a silver saucer, adorned with a single rose on a wooden tabletop. The flower here could refer to rose water, a perfumed drink popular in the 17th century, or have a deeper, religious significance. The motif of the cup fille...

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The bleak, austere piety of Zurbarán's early pictures of saints, painted for more severe religious orders, made him the ideal painter of simple doctrinal altarpieces expressed in clear, sober colour, with figures of massive solidity and solemnity, and with a Tenebrism owing little to Caravaggio or R...

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