A Knight of Alcántara or Calatrava

Bartolomé Estebán Murillo Spanish

Not on view

This is thought to be the earliest full-length portrait by Murillo, a Sevillian artist more often associated with genre and religious subjects. Executed before he had developed the softly blended technique of his later paintings, the dramatic lighting and planar colors are associated with Murillo’s older contemporary, Zubarán. In the nineteenth century, the sitter was mistakenly identified as Don Pedro Núñez de Villavicencio (1640–ca. 1695), whose passion for painting led him to study with both Murillo and Mattia Preti; scholars are still debating the sitter’s true identity.

A Knight of Alcántara or Calatrava, Bartolomé Estebán Murillo (Spanish, Seville 1617–1682 Seville), Oil on canvas

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