Interesting paintings by Bartolome Murillo

Bartolome Murillo was the leading Spanish painter of the Golden Age, the head of the Seville school.
Bartolome Esteban Murillo was born in Seville and was baptized on January 1, 1618. At the age of 11 the boy orphaned and lived with his relative, the painter Juan del Castillo.
At 17 Murillo was painting small, religious compositions for the Latin American market.
The desire to improve led him to Madrid, where his countryman, Velazquez, gave him the opportunity to study and copy the works of Titian, Rubens, van Dyck and Ribera in the royal palaces. 1642-1645 remain the most mysterious years in the life of Murillo.

In 1645 he returned to Seville as a completely different artist and soon received a large order from the Franciscan monastery.
In 1645 Murillo married Beatriz de Cabrera y Sotomayor. She gave birth to five children. Beatriz died on January 1, 1664 and Murillo worked rather slowly for two years. Gradually, he moved to a new stage in his life, which began with a large order for the church of Santa Maria la Blanca. The artist lived in the Capuchin monastery, where he was asked to decorate the entire altar wall. In May 1665, Murillo was admitted to the Brotherhood of Mercy.
According to some sources, in the early 1660’s the artist went to Madrid. It is known that in 1660, after the death of the great Velasquez, the king invited Murillo to be the court painter, but he refused.
In 1660 Bartolome founded an art academy and became its first president.
In 1675-76 Murillo painted more than 20 paintings for the Capuchin convent of Seville, and 17 of them are now in the museum of this city.
Murillo died on April 3, 1682 in Seville. It was said that the artist died in poverty. The version that he donated money to the religious organizations is closer to the truth.
Murillo had painted over 450 pictures. His work had a great influence on the later Spanish artists. Thanks to Murillo, the art of Spain was first recognized in Europe as something worthy of imitation.