Francisco Zurbaran: biography, creativity and interesting facts

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

This article will tell about the Spanish artist Francisco Zurbaran, who was a representative of the Seville school and the golden age of Spanish painting. A contemporary and friend of Velasquez? Zurbaran was famous for his religious painting, which had great visual power and deep mysticism. But his ideas about painting differ from the realism of Velázquez. The artist's compositions are characterized by chic light and shade solutions that amaze the imagination.

Biography of Francisco Zurbaran

The future great artist was born on November 7, 1598 in the settlement of Fuente de Cantos in the Spanish province of Extremadura. His father, Luis Zurbaran, was a we althy Basque merchant who had previously settled in these places. The mother of the great Spanish artist was Isabel Marquez. Francisco de Zurbarana's parents married in the nearby town of Monesterio on January 10, 1588. By the way, two other famous painters of the Spanish Golden Age were born a little later than Zurbaran: the great Velázquez (1599-1660) and Alonso Cano (1601-1667).

The beginning of the creative path

Probably, his path as an artist began at the Juan de Roelas school of fine arts in his hometown of Fuente de Cantos. In 1614Francisco Zurbarán was accepted into the studio of the painter Pedro Diaz de Villanueva (1564-1654) in Seville, where he met Alonso Cano in 1616. The Spanish artist was probably also acquainted with Francisco Pacheco, Velazquez's painting teacher. He was also somewhat influenced by the painter Sánchez Cotán, as can be seen from a still life that Zurbarán painted around 1633.

His apprenticeship was completed in 1617 when he married Maria Paez. The Immaculate painting, which is considered the beginning of his professional career, was supposedly painted in 1616 and is currently kept in the private collection of Placido Arango. But experts believe that the actual date of writing this canvas is 1656, since the influence of Titian and Guido Reni is noticeable here, which was more typical for the artist’s last creative period.

Family of Francisco Zurbaran

In 1617 he settled in the city of Leren, Extremadura province, where his three children were born: Maria, Juan, Isabelle. His only son, Juan, was born in 1620 and became an artist like his father, he died during the great plague that occurred in Seville in 1649. After the death of his first wife, Francisco remarried in 1625 to Beatriz de Morales. Beatrice was the widow of a merchant who left her a good inheritance. She was ten years older than Francisco Zurbaran, like his first wife. In 1939, Beatrice died from a serious illness. In 1644 he married for the third time Leonora de Tordera, the daughter of a goldsmith. She was twenty-eight years old and Zurbaranforty six. They had six children.

Christian motives in creativity

In 1622 he was already a recognized and influential artist. He was hired to paint the church altar in his hometown. In 1626, in the presence of a notary, he signed a new contract with the Society of Preachers of the Dominican Order of San Pablo el Real in Seville. In eight months he had to paint twenty-one pictures. In 1627, he painted the painting "Christ on the Cross", which was so admired by his contemporaries that the municipal council of Seville officially invited the artist in 1629 to settle in their city. A photo of the painting is presented below.

This canvas depicts the crucifixion of Christ. He is nailed to a crude wooden cross. The white cloth around his waist is draped in a Baroque style. It contrasts sharply with the well-formed muscles of Christ's body. His face is tilted towards the right shoulder. The suffering, which is unbearable, nevertheless yields to his last desire for resurrection, before the last thought of the promised life. The tormented body of Christ clearly demonstrates this. The style of this piece by Francisco de Zurbarana is baroque.

Like Velasquez, Christ's feet in Zurbaran's painting are nailed separately. At that time, artists tried to recreate the torment of the crucifixion. But many theologians believed that the bodies of Jesus and Mary must be perfect. Zurbaran well heeded these requirements of the church, establishing himself as an outstanding master at the age of 29. In 1631, the Spanish painter created another masterpiece- the painting "The Apotheosis of Thomas Aquinas", which amazed his contemporaries.

Move to Seville

Francisco de Zurbaran was considered a painter of images, that is, a religious artist who specialized in images of saints. In 1628, Zurbaran signed a new contract with one of the Seville monasteries. He settled in the city with his family and the workers of his workshop. During this period, he painted "San Serapio", depicting one of the monk-martyrs who died in 1240 after being allegedly tortured by English pirates.

The Brothers of the Order to which San Serapio belonged, in addition to the traditional vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, declared a vow of redemption or blood. In agreement with him, they promised to give their lives in exchange for the salvation of captives who are afraid of losing their faith. Zurbaran wanted to express the full horror of torture and death, but at the same time avoid the appearance of even a drop of blood in the composition. The white robe of the martyr occupies most of the canvas and demonstrates the death agony. Below is a photo of this painting by Francisco Zurbaran.

Calling himself the master painter of the city of Seville, the Spanish painter aroused the jealousy of his colleagues, for example, the despised Alonso Cano. Zurbaran refused to take the exams that gave him the right to use this title, because he considered his work and the recognition of great artists more valuable than the opinion of the painters' guild of Seville, opposed to him. Orders literally rained down on Zurbaran, both frommembers of the noble families of Spain, and from the patrons of the great monasteries.

Career blossoming

In 1634 he traveled to Madrid. Staying in the capital was decisive for his creative growth. He met his friend Diego Velazquez there, with whom he analyzed his own work. He was able to see paintings by Italian artists who worked in Spain, such as Angelo Nardi and Guido Reni. In Madrid, he becomes a court painter. The King of Spain was amazed by the work of Francisco Zurbaran. Having become a court painter, he returned to Lerena, where he painted for free a picture for the Church of Our Lady of Granada, because he was devoted to the Virgin Mary. There were also orders from a number of other churches and monasteries in Seville.

The painting "Burial of the relics of St. Bonaventure"

In 1629, Zurbaran paints the famous painting "The Burial of the Relics of Saint Bonaventure", which experts consider the crown of his work. Saint Bonaventure died about 1237. The work is painted in oil on canvas. The size of the painting is two and a half meters high and two meters wide. The painting depicts the body of a dead man lying diagonally on a golden drapery. Around the bed, the artist depicted six Franciscan monks. Two of them are praying, two are talking, and the others are meditating. On the left side of the canvas are the King of Aragon, Pope Gregory X and the Bishop of Lyon. The face of the deceased contrasts with the faces of the people around him. A strong accent in the picture is the red hat of the cardinal, lying at the feet of Bonaventure. The composition is considered one of the mostrisky and best in the work of Francisco de Zurbaran. Usually, his canvases are characterized by the simplicity of the arrangement of the elements shown in the picture.

New Market

Zurbaran also painted religious paintings for the Spanish colonies in America. Sometimes collections of paintings depicting saints contained more than ten works. In 1638, he demanded payment of the amount owed to him by South American buyers. An exceptional example of the works of Francisco Zurbaran, written by him for America, is a series of twelve paintings "The Tribes of Israel". Three works from it are currently in Auckland, County Durham (England). It is assumed that they did not reach their destination due to a pirate attack. By 1636, Zurbaran expanded exports to South America.

Below you see the painting "Saint Jerome with Angels".

In 1647, the Peruvian monastery commissioned him thirty-eight paintings, twenty-four of which were to be large. He also sold some non-religious paintings, such as still lifes, to the American market. They made up for the decline in Andalusian clientele.

Still life

The painting "Lemons, oranges and a rose" is considered the only still life by Francisco Zurbaran, which was signed and dated by the artist himself. The canvas depicts yellow citrons on a plate, orange oranges in a basket, and a cup on a silver plate with a rose lying in it. Allthese items stand out brightly against the dark background behind them. Many experts believe that these fruits and kitchen utensils are a religious metaphor for the Holy Trinity.

Below is a photo of this piece.

Still life "Plate and cup with a rose" is in the London gallery. In Madrid, the painting "Four Vessels" is kept, which is considered the most famous work of Zurbaran in this genre.

South America again

Zurbaran also entered into an agreement with buyers from the colonies, according to which he sold in Buenos Aires fifteen paintings of martyrs, fifteen images of kings and famous people, twenty-four paintings depicting saints and patriarchs (all large), and nine Dutch landscapes.

The painting "Saint Domingo" is one of them. You can see her below.

The last years of the painter's life

Francisco Zurbaran has died at the age of 65. In recent years, he had few orders and lost his popularity. There is a myth that the great artist died in poverty, but this is not true. After his death, he left a good inheritance to his children in the amount of twenty thousand reais. His paintings are in museum collections around the world.