Francisco Zurbarán (1598-1664), was a Spanish painter, born at Fuente de Cantos in Estremadura on the November 7, 1598. His father was Luis Zurbaran, a country laborer, his mother Isabel Marquet.

The Lying-in-State of St. Bonaventura

In childhood he set about imitating objects with charcoal; and his father sent him, still young, to the school of Juan de Roelas in Seville. Francisco soon became the best pupil in the studio of Roelas, surpassing the master himself; and before leaving him he had achieved a solid reputation, full though Seville then was of able painters.

Style

He may have had here the opportunity of copying some of the paintings of Michelangelo da Caravaggio; at any rate he gained the name of the Spanish Caravaggio, owing to the forcible realistic style in which he excelled. He constantly painted direct from nature, following but occasionally improving on his model; and he made great use of the lay-figure in the study of draperies, in which he was peculiarly proficient. He had a special gift for white draperies; and, as a consequence, Carthusian houses are abundant in his paintings. To these rigid methods Zurbaran is said to have adhered throughout his career, which was prosperous, wholly confined to Spain, and varied by few incidents beyond those of his daily labor. His subjects were mostly of a severe and ascetic religious vigils, the flesh chastised into subjection to the spirit the compositions seldom thronged, and often reduced to a single figure. The style is more reserved and chastened than Caravaggios, the tone of color often bluish to excess. Exceptional effects are attained by the precise finish of foregrounds, largely massed out in light and shade.

Later Life

Zurbaran married in Seville Leonor de Jordera, by whom he had several children. Towards 1630 he was appointed painter to Philip IV; and there is a story that on one occasion the sovereign laid his hand on the artists shoulder, saying, Painter to the king, king of painters. It was only late in life that Zurbaran made a prolonged stay in Madrid, Seville being the chief scene of his operations. He died in Madrid on August 27, 1664.

Artistic Legacy

In 1627 he painted the great altarpiece of St. Thomas Aquinas, now in the Seville museum; it was executed for the church of the college of that saint there. This is Zurbarans largest composition, containing figures of Christ and the Madonna, various saints, Charles V with knights, and Archbishop Deza (founder of the college) with monks and servitors, all the principal personages being beyond the size of life. It had been preceded by the numerous pictures of the screen of St. Peter Nolasco in the cathedral.

In the church of Guadalupe he painted various large pictures, eight of which relate to the history of St. Jerome, and in the church of St. Paul, Seville, a famous figure of the Crucified Saviour, in grisaille, presenting an illusive effect of marble. In 1633 he finished the paintings of the high altar of the Carthusians in Jerez. In the palace of Buenretiro, Madrid, are four large canvases representing the Labours of Hercules, an unusual instance of non-Christian subjects from the hand of Zurbaran. A fine specimen is in the National Gallery, London, a whole-length, life-sized figure of a kneeling Franciscan holding a skull. It seems probable that another picture in the same gallery, the Dead Roland, which used to be ascribed to Velasquez, is really by Zurbaran. His principal scholars, whose style has as much affinity to that of Ribera as to Caravaggios, were Bernabe de Ayala and the brothers Polanco.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.