Bartolomé Esteban Murillo is the last great painter of the Spanish Golden Age, yet today his works are often maligned as “cute” and “saccharine”. This lecture reassesses his paintings in the context of 17th-century Seville, the great port city for the Spanish Empire and a centre of Catholic reform. By looking at Murillo’s most innovative and beautiful paintings we will see how his art blends faith and empire, from his grand cycle in Santa Maria la Blanca to his small works painted of imported Aztec mirrors.
IMAGES (courtesy of the lecturer)
Three Boys by Murillo (detail)
Imaculate Conception by Murillo
Self-portrait by Murillo





