1. Self Portrait (1670-72) BARTOLOME ESTEBAN MURILLO --Born in Seville in 1617, the youngest of 14 children --His parents died and he was orphaned at age 11 --Eventually taken in by his older sister; his apprenticeship ended at age 15 --He may have spent time in the Americas afterward; no records of his activity as an artist until 1640

2. JUAN DE VALDES LEAL --Born in Seville, 1622 --May have studied under Francisco Herrera the Elder

3. JUAN DE VALDES LEAL --Stays in Cordoba until 1656, spending his later days there working on the Carmelite altarpiece. --Moves back to Seville

4. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD

5. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD Miguel Mañara, Hermano Mayor of Hermandad de la Caridad, Seville by Valdes Leal (1680) --Hermandad de la Caridad (Brotherhood of Charity): a confraternity dedicated to burying the dead—providing a Christian burial for the poor and indigent. --Founded in the late 15 th century by Pedro Martinez to bury the bodies of executed criminals so they would not rot in the streets and plazas, or be eaten by dogs. --Earliest surviving record is from 1565, recording the initiation of 120 new members; the organization’s Rules of 1578 specify their goal was still burial of the dead.

6. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD Miguel Mañara, Hermano Mayor of Hermandad de la Caridad, Seville by Valdes Leal (1680) --Enthusiasm for the organization waned and enrollment was at a low during the late 16 th and early 17 th centuries. --As Seville itself came on hard times, and especially as plague and famine took a heavy toll, interest in the group renewed; over 100 new members were enrolled from 1650-54 alone, and the group attained a new prominence within the city. --In 1662 they accepted as a member Miguel Mañara Vincentelo de Leca.

7. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD Miguel Mañara, Hermano Mayor of Hermandad de la Caridad, Seville by Valdes Leal (1680) Miguel Mañara : --Born into one of the wealthiest families in Seville in 1627. --As a young man was a scoundrel, rouge, libertine, and notorious womanizer. --When his older brothers die, inherits his father’s immense fortune in 1648.

8. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD Miguel Mañara, Hermano Mayor of Hermandad de la Caridad, Seville by Valdes Leal (1680) Miguel Mañara: “ I served Babylon and the Devil . . . with a thousand abominations, arrogance, adulteries, profanities, scandals and thefts, whose sins and crimes are beyond counting.”

9. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD Miguel Mañara, Hermano Mayor of Hermandad de la Caridad, Seville by Valdes Leal (1680) Miguel Mañara : --Met and married a pious woman named Jeronima Carillo de Mendoza; changed his ways and settled down to a tranquil domestic life. --In 1661 his wife died prematurely; stunned and grieved, he retired to a monastery to spend his time in contemplation. A morbid streak took hold of him and he began to write on the vanity of worldly existence.

10. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD Miguel Mañara, Hermano Mayor of Hermandad de la Caridad, Seville by Valdes Leal (1680) Miguel Mañara: --Became known for his extreme piety and, determined to do the the Lord’s work, returned to Seville and applied to the Hermandad. --His application was initially opposed, but he was admitted in 1662, and within a year had assumed the position of Hermano Mayor, which he held until his death in 1679.

11. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD Miguel Mañara, Hermano Mayor of Hermandad de la Caridad, Seville by Valdes Leal (1680) --The Hermandad’s activities were expanded beyond just burial of the dead. A hospice was opened to shelter and feed the homeless; an ambulance service was organized to carry the sick to hospitals, and later the Hermandad would open their own infirmary; an educational service was organized to tutor the residents of the hospice and infirmary. --The Hermandad’s facilities were expanded; the church was rebuilt and a new chapel added, a project directed by Mañara.

12. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD Miguel Mañara, Hermano Mayor of Hermandad de la Caridad, Seville by Valdes Leal (1680) --1670: Mañara reports that the construction on the church is finished and already placed within it are “six hieroglyphs that explain six works of charity.” --The “hieroglyphs” are six paintings commissioned from Murillo, who himself had joined the Hermandad as a brother.

13. HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD: MAIN ALTAR --In 1670, after Murillo’s paintings were installed on the church walls, the burial of the dead, the 7 th work of charity and the Hermandad’s own historic focus, was commissioned as an altarpiece from the sculptor Pedro Roldan and architect Simon Pineda—the subject was the Entombment of Christ himself.

14. HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD: MAIN ALTAR Interior of the church: A testament to the Acts of Mercy which a Catholic could perform

15. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD In Ictu Oculi and Finis Gloriae Mundi by Valdes Leal (1672) Miguel Mañara: in 1672, 2 “Hieroglyphs of Las Postrimerias” (the “Last Things”) have been added, and complete the meaning of the church.

16. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD Memento Mori : Reminder of death—death will take us all, so is best to prepare the soul for the next world, rather than be obsessed with this world. Finis Gloriae Mundi (End of worldy glory) by Valdes Leal

17. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD Memento Mori : Reminder of death—death will take us all, so is best to prepare the soul for the next world, rather than be obsessed with this world. “ What does it matter if you are great in the world, brother, if death will make you the equal of the smallest? Go to a bone heap that is full of the bones of the dead, distinguish among them the rich from the poor, the wise from the ignorant, the humble from the mighty. They are all bones, all skulls, and they all look alike.”—Miguel Mañara Finis Gloriae Mundi (End of worldy glory) by Valdes Leal

18. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD In Ictu Oculi (In the blink of an eye) by Valdes Leal “ Regard the saints who occupy the slopes of the holy mountain, and how, to reach its peak with greater speed, they strip themselves of all the impedes them from climbing higher. Look at the king throwing away his crown, the merchant his wealth, the scholar his books, the soldier his arms. Everything that blocks the road is detested by its owner.”—Miguel Mañara

19. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD “ If we have the truth before us, it is this, and there is no other: the shroud we will wear must daily be before our eyes . . . remember that you will be covered by dirt and stepped on by all, and you will easily forget the honors and status of this life. Remember also the vile worms that will eat your body, and how ugly and abominable you will be in the grave, and how those eyes that are reading these words will be devoured by the earth, and how those hands will be devoured and left dry, and how the silks and Finis Gloriae Mundi (End of worldy glory) by Valdes Leal

20. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD finery that you wear today will be converted into a rotted shroud, your amber into a stench, your beauty and grace into worms, your . . . greatness into the greatest loneliness imaginable. Look into a tomb, enter it thoughtfully, look at the loved ones you once knew. Listen to the silence—not a sound can be heard, only the gnawing of termites and worms . . . Remember, brother, that this will surely happen to you, and all your being will disintegrate Finis Gloriae Mundi (End of worldy glory) by Valdes Leal

21. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD into dry bones, horrible and frightening. So much so that the person who loves you most today . . . will be shocked to see you the moment after you expire, and whoever knew you will be shocked and horrified.” — Miguel Mañara Finis Gloriae Mundi (End of worldy glory) by Valdes Leal

22. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD Finis Gloriae Mundi by Valdes Leal “ Las Postrimerias” (The last 4 things): --Death --Judgment --Heaven --Hell  Judgment: Heaven and Hell are in the balance  Death

23. MURILLO AND VALDES LEAL: HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD Finis Gloriae Mundi by Valdes Leal “ Las Postrimerias” (The last 4 things): --Death --Judgment --Heaven --Hell   Ni mas, ni menos—nothing more, nothing less 7 deadly sins vs. items of devotion

24. THE SEVEN ACTS OF MERCY (MISERICORDIA) Catholics: Justification through good works Seven Acts of Mercy: --Food for hungry --Drink for thirsty --Hospitality to strangers --Clothes for the naked --Tend to sick --Minister to prisoners --Bury dead

25. HERMANDAD DE LA CARIDAD Acts of charity, mercy, good works transform a death of decay into a death of salvation

26. Life of Man by Jan Steen (c.1665) Boy blowing bubbles and skull: vanitas, insignificance of worldly pursuits, desires  DUTCH GENRE PAINTING: MORALIZING MEANINGS

27. DUTCH GENRE PAINTING: MORALIZING MEANINGS Sleeping Sportsman by Gabriel Metsu (c.1660) “ Vogelen” (birds): slang for sex  

28. DUTCH GENRE PAINTING: MORALIZING MEANINGS The Morning Toilet by Jan Steen (1663) Candle and open jewel box: “Neither does one buy pearls in the dark, nor does one look for love at night.” (period cliché) “ Kous” (stocking): slang for vagina She is a prostitute; moral about illicit sex Putting on stocking  Candle and open jewel box 

29. DUTCH STILL LIFE: MORALIZING MEANINGS Still Life by Willem Claesz. Heda (1636) Lemon: looks  but has a bitter taste; metaphor for the deceptive nature of worldly pleasure.

30. DUTCH STILL LIFE: MORALIZING MEANINGS Vanitas Still Lifes by Harmen Steenwijck (c.1640s) Transience  Withered branch  Burned out pipes  Snuffed out candle  Over-turned glass History book 

31. --In a 20+ year career as a painter, may not have painted more than 50 works. --Born and baptized in Delft in 1632 --Father owned a tavern (in the same building as their home), designed and sold silk cloth, and was registered as a master art dealer --Registered with Guild of St. Luke in 1653, dues not fully paid until 1656. Periodically listed as a board member. Registry, Guild of St. Luke VERMEER: KNOWN DOCUMENTATION OF HIS LIFE

32. --Married in 1653; his wife’s mother, Maria Thins, had an small but impressive art collection. --Apparently had a patron named Van Ruijven, who had rights of first refusal on his works. Van Ruijven owned at least 20 Vermeers, dating from the 1650s to the 1670s. It is believed Van Ruijven kept Vermeer on a retainer—this is not specifically documented, but Van Ruijven’s cousin had exactly such an arrangement with Gerard Dou. Registry, Guild of St. Luke VERMEER: KNOWN DOCUMENTATION OF HIS LIFE

33. VERMEER: KNOWN DOCUMENTATION OF HIS LIFE --Various loan certificates survive. --Vermeer took over his father’s house and tavern, but had to rent them out in 1672 and move to a smaller house. --Dies in 1676, leaving 8 children and various debts; his widow is forced to give some of his paintings to a baker as a collateral for a bakery bill. Registry, Guild of St. Luke

34. VERMEER: KNOWN DOCUMENTATION OF HIS LIFE --His widow petitions for bankruptcy; various paintings seized to cover debts, including 26 by a merchant against a grocery bill. Notice of bankruptcy of Vermeer’s widow

35. VERMEER: MORALIZING MEANINGS Maidservant Pouring Milk: domestic virtue?—women at chores Nurturing?—milk

36. VERMEER: MORALIZING MEANINGS Lady Weighing Gold Scales: vanitas   The Last Judgment Christ in judgment  The Saved   The Damned

37. VERMEER: MORALIZING MEANINGS St. Michael with scales judging souls  By Hans Memling (15 th century) Takes place of  St. Michael, bridge between secular and sacred worlds: as you judge in this world, someday you will be judged

38. HAN VAN MEEGEREN: Forgery of Vermeer Supper at Emmaus

39. HAN VAN MEEGEREN Cracks filled in with ink and grime to look old 

40. HAN VAN MEEGEREN: Forgery of Vermeer Last Supper Original canvas Hand on Christ’s shoulder    dog 

42. HAN VAN MEEGEREN: Forgery of Vermeer Supper at Emmaus --Supper at Emmaus his first major forged sale (1937). --Sold through a middleman; van Meegeren claimed he was offering the painting on behalf of an important family that had it in their private collection but was now facing financial hardship and did not want to be identified. --Carefully examined by the leading art historian in the Netherlands who was completely fooled and pronounced it a genuine Vermeer. --Sold for over 500,000 guilders (equivalent in today’s terms to around $3 million).

43. HAN VAN MEEGEREN: Forgery of Vermeer Head of Christ Sold in 1941 for over 400,000 guilders (in today’s terms around $2 million)

44. HAN VAN MEEGEREN: Forgery of Vermeer Last Supper Sold in 1941 for 1.6 million guilders (in today’s terms around $7 million)

45. HAN VAN MEEGEREN: Forgery of Vermeer Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery Sold to German Field Marshal Hermann Goering

46. HAN VAN MEEGEREN: Forgery of Vermeer Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery Sold to German Field Marshal Hermann Goering --Discovered after World War II in Goering’s hoard of looted art in Austria. --Investigation by Dutch authorities linked the painting to van Meegeren. --Van Meegeren was charged with collaboration with the enemy (punishable by death) for allowing an “original” Vermeer, a Dutch “national treasure” to fall into the hands of the Nazis. --Faced with the charge of collaboration, van Meegeren revealed that the “Vermeers” were forgeries.

47. HAN VAN MEEGEREN: Forgery of Vermeer Christ Among the Doctors (painted as a demonstration while van Meegeren was on trail)

48. HAN VAN MEEGEREN: Forgery of Vermeer --Convicted of fraud for the forgeries, sentenced to prison. --Died in 1947.