A forthcoming exhibition at the National Gallery in London brings together works from collections around the world that will reveal the audacity, intensity and stillness of one of the great masters of the Spanish Golden Age of painting.

From the earliest centuries after Christ, artists painted figures below the dying Jesus in their Crucifixion scenes. Initially, these were saints and others who are mentioned in the gospels. Later – from Fra Angelico on – the group at the foot of the Cross widened to include individuals who had not been alive at the time of Christ, including donors whose funding had paid for the work being made. But it wasn’t until the mid-seventeenth century that an artist had the audacity to paint one of his own kind into such a work. The year was 1650, and the figure depicted at the foot of the Cross was quite probably the very artist wielding the paintbrush. His name was Francisco de Zurbarán.

Get Instant Access

Continue Reading

Register for free to read this article in full

REGISTER

Subscribe for unlimited access

SUBSCRIBE NOW

From just £37.50 quarterly

  Print copy of The Tablet delivered directly to your door.
  Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.
  Access to the weekly digital copy of The Tablet.
  Full access to The Tablet’s archive – over 180 years of back issues.

Already a subscriber? Login