Born in Seville, Murillo lived during the Golden Age of Spanish Painting, but his paintings covered more than just religious subjects.
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
How to book this event:
This will be a hybrid lecture. Members of TAS SW London can attend free of charge but non-members will be asked for a £10 fee at the door. To watch the lecture live online, please email theartssocietyswlondon@gmail.com for a link. There is a charge of £5 for non-members.
THE ARTS SOCIETY ACCREDITED LECTURER
Ms Isabelle Kent
Isabelle is an academic and educator specialising in the baroque, with a particular focus on Spain and its empire. She received a BA and MPhil in History of Art from Trinity College, Cambridge, where she is currently completing her PhD on the art of Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Zurbarán. From 2017 to 2019 she worked as the Enriqueta Harris Frankfort Curatorial Assistant at the Wallace Collection and in 2020 her book Collecting Bartolomé Esteban Murillo in Britain and Ireland was published by CEEH. Alongside her academia, Isabelle is an expert guide for a travel company, leading groups around Spain and beyond, and she also teaches regularly for the V&A, Art Fund, Royal Academy, Chelsea Arts Club, Wallace Collection and University of Cambridge.
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