BARTOLOMÉ ESTEBAN MURILLO - Enfant Jesus Carrying the Cross - SPANISH - 17TH CENTURY

BARTOLOMÉ ESTEBAN MURILLO - Enfant Jesus Carrying the Cross - SPANISH - 17TH CENTURY
WITH EU EXPORT PERMIT - A report is attached at the buyer's request. Provenance: important private collection, Valencia. Spanish school of the 17th century - Oil on canvas, dimensions: 125 x 90 cm. We know that as an adult Murillo enjoyed a very prominent place in Sevillian society and a comfortable economic position. He kept apprentices and led the Sevillian artistic scene, even surpassing Zurbarán in prestige. A work of exquisite detail and undoubtedly framed in his mature period and painted in Valencia. In 1660, together with Francisco Herrera el Mozo, he founded a painting academy with the aim of raising the artistic level of the city, a project in which he played a leading role. His fame transcended both locally and nationally, and according to Palomino, around 1670 King Charles II offered him to move to Madrid as court painter, although there is no certainty that this offer actually took place. What is certain is that Murillo remained in Seville until his death. The works of the Sevillian master are preserved in the most prominent places in the most important museums in the world, such as the Prado Museum, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna, the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan in New York and the National Gallery in London. Attached to this work is a copy of identical dimensions and dating from the 19th century that the estate delivers together with the original and that was acquired years ago in the art and auction market, which would denote the importance of the work that Templum puts up for auction and its devotion in Valencia for centuries, a Valencian period in which Murillo was most likely entrusted with the commission to paint this extraordinary Holy Child Jesus with the Cross to the Sevillian master. Provenance: important private collection, Valencia.