Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was a Spanish Baroque painter born in 1617 in Seville. He was orphaned at a young age and was taken in by an older sister who allowed him to study under a relative who was a painter. This document discusses three of Murillo's important paintings - The Penitent Magdalen, Vieja con la rueca which depicted everyday folk realistically, and La huida a Egipto which showed biblical characters resembling peasant families of the time period.

1. MURILLO
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was born in Seville in 1617. Born into a
family of fourteen children. Lost his father
at age of nine and lost his mother just six
months later. One of her older sisters,
Anna, took charge of him and allowed him to
attend a relatives shop painter, Juan del
Castillo.
This Penitent Magdalen is one of the most
important works by Murillo to be discovered
in recent years. Murillo signed rather few
of his works during his lifetime and most of
those that are signed were painted during
the early stages of his career, before he
became Seville’s most famous painter.
Paintings of Murillo
Vieja con la rueca:It is one of the
first pictures
folkloric and popular
subject, sharply
realistic. The passage
of time will introduce
a touch of sweetening later sentimental image of
the poor.
La huida a Egipto:There are several paintings of
Murillo with the theme of the Flight out Egypt. Among others is
one with two versions: the Bianco Palace of
Genoa and the Art Institute of Detroit. The
characters in this table have the look of
plain folk of mid-seventeenth century,
resembling a family of peasants who wander or
travel modestly.
Rebeca y Eliecer:This table shows the
influence of Titian, Rubens and Van Dyck. It
tells a story of Genesis, Abraham's servant, sent to Mesopotamia
to seek a wife to Isaac, select the
lovely girl.