Bartolome Esteban Murillo. Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was a Spanish Baroque painter.
Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contemporary women and children. These lively, realist portraits of flower girls, street urchins, and beggars constitute an extensive and appealing record of the everyday life of his times.
Murillo was born to Gaspar Esteban and María Pérez. He may have been born in Seville or in Pilas, a smaller Andalusian town.
It is clear that he was baptized in Seville in 1618, the youngest son in a family of fourteen. His father was a barber and surgeon.
After his parents died in 1627 and 1628, he became a ward of his sister's husband, Juan Agustín Lagares. Murillo seldom used his father's surname, and instead took his surname from his maternal grandmother, Elvira Murillo. Murillo began his art studies in Seville under Juan del Castillo, who was a relative of his mother. His first works were influenced by Zurbarán, Jusepe de Ribera and Alonzo Cano, and he shared their strongly realist approach. The great commercial importance of Seville at the time ensured that he was subject to artistic influences from other regions. He became familiar with Flemish painting and the Treatise on Sacred Images of Molanus. As his painting developed, his more important works evolved towards the polished style that suited the bourgeois and aristo
Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contemporary women and children. These lively, realist portraits of flower girls, street urchins, and beggars constitute an extensive and appealing record of the everyday life of his times.
Murillo was born to Gaspar Esteban and María Pérez. He may have been born in Seville or in Pilas, a smaller Andalusian town.
It is clear that he was baptized in Seville in 1618, the youngest son in a family of fourteen. His father was a barber and surgeon.
After his parents died in 1627 and 1628, he became a ward of his sister's husband, Juan Agustín Lagares. Murillo seldom used his father's surname, and instead took his surname from his maternal grandmother, Elvira Murillo. Murillo began his art studies in Seville under Juan del Castillo, who was a relative of his mother. His first works were influenced by Zurbarán, Jusepe de Ribera and Alonzo Cano, and he shared their strongly realist approach. The great commercial importance of Seville at the time ensured that he was subject to artistic influences from other regions. He became familiar with Flemish painting and the Treatise on Sacred Images of Molanus. As his painting developed, his more important works evolved towards the polished style that suited the bourgeois and aristo
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