Murillo

A revealing exploration of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s genre paintings and the cultural significance of his depictions of ordinary people

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682) is best known for his religious subject matter, yet some of his most iconic works depict secular themes. Celebrating Murillo’s genre paintings and shedding new light on the innovative portrayals of beggars, street urchins, and flower girls in the artist’s culturally rich narratives of youth and age, romance and seduction, and faith and charity, this generously illustrated volume features insightful essays that address Murillo’s art through the lenses of antiquity, northern culture, portraiture, and diversity in the city of Seville. The catalogue also contains detailed commentaries on the more than fifty works included in the exhibition, further exploring these paintings’ complex meanings to reveal their importance in their own time and suggest their relevance in our own.

Author Biography

Guillaume Kientz is director and CEO of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library, New York. Ronni Baer is the Allen R. Adler, Class of 1967, Distinguished Curator and Lecturer in the Department of Art and Archeology at Princeton University. Madeleine Haddon is a teaching fellow at Edinburgh University. Fernando Loffredo is an assistant professor in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature at Stony Brook University, New York. Xavier F. Salomon is deputy director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator at the Frick Collection, New York.