Bartolomé Esteban MURILLO (1618-1682) workshop of "The Sorrowful Mother" Oil on canvas. 17th century.

Lot 495 - Bartolomé Esteban MURILLO (1618-1682) workshop of "The Sorrowful Mother" Oil on canvas. 17th century. Enclosed is a document written in Spanish and signed by Mr. Enrique Valdivieso González (Spanish art historian holding the post of professor of art history at the University of Seville and specialist in the Sevillian school of painting). "Enrique Valdivieso González, Emeritus Professor of Art History at the University of Seville, reports on a painting on canvas (36 x 28 cm), which depicts a Dolorosa, pointing out that it is a work with clear stylistic characteristics that suggest it was painted in Murillo's studio. In fact, following a model created by the master that is currently conserved in the Prado Museum, this work was created in his studio, in which the forms created by Murillo are maintained at a high level of quality, so that we can see the softness and elegance of the drawing and the harmony of the different chromatic shades used. The repetition of works in Murillo's studio is justified by the great success that this pictorial model had with the Sevillian public, who bought this type of painting to be placed in the private chapels of many large residences or at least in the oratories that were found in every important house. This demand obliged Murillo to produce, with the help of his studio, numerous repetitions of this type of Dolorosa, which was always accompanied by an Ecce Homo, although for various reasons such as inheritances and scores, the couple found themselves repeatedly and currently separated; (a study of the different typologies of Dolorosas that Murillo painted is collected in E. Valdivieso, The School of Murillo. Seville, 2018, pp. 365-371). The expression of the Virgin, who is undoubtedly contemplating her son, who has been brutally beaten and crowned with thorns, is particularly meticulous in this work. However, her highly balanced expression is based on the fact that her spiritual suffering is more profound than her physical suffering. On the other hand, the chromatic treatment is very sober, alternating the white of the veil with the blue of the brushstroke, warning that the latter hue has darkened considerably over time, tending towards black." Seville, 20 March 2023