Case 13 (2009-10) : The Virgin and Child by Bartolome Esteban Murillo Expert Adviser’s Statement EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Brief Description of item Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682) Virgin & Child , early 1650s Oil on canvas, 166.5 x 110.5 cm The painting is in good condition for a work of its date and size. 2. Context Provenance : Gaspar Marqués de Remisa y Meriones (1784-1847) (as indicated by the initials: G. M. de. R. in the lower right hand corner); Queen Maria Cristina de Borbón (1806-1878); bought by Baron Lionel de Rothschild (1809-1879) in 1840-1; and by descent to Nathaniel, 1 st Lord Rothschild (1840-1915); Hon. Charles Rothschild (1877-1923); Dr the Hon. Dame Miriam Rothschild, Mrs George Lane (1908-2005); acquired by the Hawksford Trust, Jersey, Ltd., in 1984. Exhibited : London, Royal Academy, 1890, p. 46 On loan to Birmingham City Art Gallery, 1978-2002 On loan to the National Galleries of Scotland, 2002-2008 Key references : C. Justi, Murillo , Leipzig, 1890, no. 139. J. A Gaya Nuño, L’Opera completa di Murillo , Milan, 1978, p. 90, no. 47. D. Angulo Iñiguez, Murillo , Madrid, 1981, vol. 2, pp. 278, 147, no. 148, vol. 3, pl. 35. 3. Waverley criteria The painting meets Waverley criteria 2 owing to its outstanding aesthetic importance as one of the finest of Murillo’s versions of a subject closely associated with his fame. DETAILED CASE 1. Detailed description of item(s) if more than in Executive summary, and any comments. Murillo was one of the very greatest painters of Spain’s ‘Golden Age’. He was born, trained and spent virtually his whole career in Seville, where he became famous mainly for inventive religious imagery, but also for fine portraits and genre paintings. Murillo’s painterly style fused realism with a distinctive penchant for serene, sentimental beauty that greatly appealed to his contemporaries. His popularity quickly spread after his death and, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries he was considered one of the very greatest European painters, especially in France and Britain (he was first mentioned in England in 1693 by John Evelyn). Thus, it is not surprising that the first three Spanish paintings to enter The National Gallery were works by Murillo. Created for a Catholic audience, these images were received warmly by the largely Protestant Victorian public for the sweet sentiment that they impart as well as for their delicate colouring and virtuoso handling of soft forms melting into vaporous air. These very qualities, which so inspired Reynolds, Gainsborough, and Greuze, ultimately doomed Murillo’s reputation in the twentieth century. However, the success of the exhibitions at the Royal Academy in 1983 and at Dulwich Picture Gallery in 2001 demonstrated that Murillo’s appeal remains undiminished to many members of the public as well as to practicing painters. Murillo’s great humanity was expressed most clearly in his near-domestic paintings of the Holy Family, and in the closely related rustic scenes with beggar children, such as the paintings now in The National Gallery and Dulwich Picture Gallery. He had particular aptitude for interpreting the most popular of all devotional imagery, the Virgin and Child, and in these paintings, feminine beauty and infant charm are infused with deep religious feeling. In the work under consideration, the Virgin is shown sitting on a stone parapet with the Christ Child kneeling on her lap. He embraces her affectionately and the Virgin in turn wraps a white drape around him. The red and blue draperies are painted with strong and energetic brushstrokes, while the whites of the swaddling clothes and the highlights are applied with thick impastos, which despite the relining of the painting, are still remarkably fresh. Great Britain is rich in its holdings of Murillo’s works, both in public and private collections, but there is no truly comparable example to the work under review. 2. Detailed explanation of the outstanding significance of the item(s). The painting is a particularly fine example of Murillo’s depictions of the Virgin and Child, and it is highly desirable is because it is an early version of the subject. Compared to the more famous later paintings in the Museo del Prado, this work is painted with a youthful energy, bringing to life the folds of the drapery and giving them a strong sculptural presence. Murillo was undoubtedly familiar with Raphael’s compositions of the Virgin and Child through print sources and, in this work, the so-called ‘Mackintosh’ Madonna and Child in The National Gallery served as the point of departure. His composition contains a harmonious blend of the classical and the humane as well as a seriousness that is quite different to the slightly saccharine quality that sometimes characterises his later works. Murillo’s popularity in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain is evident in the strong holdings of his paintings in public and private collections in spite of the export of numerous works, particularly over the last century. The best public collections of his paintings are to be found in The National Gallery, London, which has seven examples, the Wallace Collection, which has another eight, and The Dulwich Picture Gallery, although there are a number of other works in museums across the country. Three depictions of the Virgin and Child can be found in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, the Wallace Collection and the Dulwich Picture Gallery, but these are later in date and significantly different in composition and mood. Thus, the export of this painting would be lamentable for the full representation of the artist in this country. Dr Nicholas Penny Director The National Gallery Report prepared by Dr Xavier Bray, Assistant Curator of 17 th and 18 th century European Paintings, with Dr Dawson Carr, Curator of Spanish and Later Italian Paintings 20 February 2010 .