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Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617 - 1642) was born as the youngest of 14 children in the Seville area. The surname Murillo, with which he often signed his works, is actually the surname of his maternal grandmother. Since his parents died when he was about 10 years old, he was placed under the guardianship of Juan Augustin Lagares, the husband of one of his sisters. Murillo began his art studies in Seville with a distant relative of his mother Juan del Castillo. In the family of his mother Maria Pérez there were many artists, such as Murillo's uncle the painter Antonio Pérez.
Murillo's early paintings were strongly influenced by Spanish painters like Zurbarán, Jusepe de Ribera and Alonso Cano. Like them, he cultivated a strongly realistic approach, which was based on the Italian Tenebroso style. Seville was an important commercial city in those days. This gave Murillo the opportunity to get to know the work of great painters from other countries. Especially the Flemish painters Rubens, Raffaell and van Dyck influenced Murillo's style. It is believed that Murillo went to Madrid for further studies in 1642, at the age of 26. However, there is no record of the journey. He probably studied the works of Velázquez and various Venetian and Flemish painters from the royal collection there.
In the course of the Madrid trip Murillo's style changed. The influence of Velázquez is specially noticeable in the painting "The Young Beggar" (1645), as here, Murillo changed from the dark Tenebroso- to a clearly brighter, light-filled style. This was to be the first of a large number of pictures showing contemporary women and children in Spain. For although he became known above all for his religious works, such as "Madonna and Child", "Maria Immaculata" or "The Flight to Egypt", Murillo painted everyday motifs far more frequently. Among these everyday scenes, the work "Two Girls at the Window" is particularly well known today. The baroque painter became one of the most famous and influential painters of Seville from around the middle of the 17th century. He married Beatriz Sotomayor y Cabrera in 1645. With her he had at least 10 or 11 children, many of whom, however, probably died in infancy. He himself became 64 years old.
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617 - 1642) was born as the youngest of 14 children in the Seville area. The surname Murillo, with which he often signed his works, is actually the surname of his maternal grandmother. Since his parents died when he was about 10 years old, he was placed under the guardianship of Juan Augustin Lagares, the husband of one of his sisters. Murillo began his art studies in Seville with a distant relative of his mother Juan del Castillo. In the family of his mother Maria Pérez there were many artists, such as Murillo's uncle the painter Antonio Pérez.
Murillo's early paintings were strongly influenced by Spanish painters like Zurbarán, Jusepe de Ribera and Alonso Cano. Like them, he cultivated a strongly realistic approach, which was based on the Italian Tenebroso style. Seville was an important commercial city in those days. This gave Murillo the opportunity to get to know the work of great painters from other countries. Especially the Flemish painters Rubens, Raffaell and van Dyck influenced Murillo's style. It is believed that Murillo went to Madrid for further studies in 1642, at the age of 26. However, there is no record of the journey. He probably studied the works of Velázquez and various Venetian and Flemish painters from the royal collection there.
In the course of the Madrid trip Murillo's style changed. The influence of Velázquez is specially noticeable in the painting "The Young Beggar" (1645), as here, Murillo changed from the dark Tenebroso- to a clearly brighter, light-filled style. This was to be the first of a large number of pictures showing contemporary women and children in Spain. For although he became known above all for his religious works, such as "Madonna and Child", "Maria Immaculata" or "The Flight to Egypt", Murillo painted everyday motifs far more frequently. Among these everyday scenes, the work "Two Girls at the Window" is particularly well known today. The baroque painter became one of the most famous and influential painters of Seville from around the middle of the 17th century. He married Beatriz Sotomayor y Cabrera in 1645. With her he had at least 10 or 11 children, many of whom, however, probably died in infancy. He himself became 64 years old.