Baroque Era Bartolomé Estéban Murillo

One of the strengths of the Dayton Art Institute collection is our European paintings from the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, known as the Baroque era. Bartolomé Estéban Murillo was one of Spain’s leading painters from the period, and one of his most popular subjects is found in the DAI’s Immaculate Conception. The artist painted at least two dozen examples, which today are held in major museums, including the Prado, Louvre and Hermitage.

extraordinarily fine example of his work, this painting demonstrates Murillo’s skill at blending naturalism with spirituality.

Murillo had numerous pupils and followers who copied his style throughout Spain and beyond, and he was long thought to be one of Europe’s greatest artists. His popularity waned by the late 1800s, however, as modern sensibilities considered his work overly sentimental. Only in the last few decades has his reputation been restored, and he is again renowned as one of Spain’s finest Baroque painters.

This painting can be seen in Gallery 218 in the Berry Wing of European Art. Gallery

Images of the Immaculate Conception—the doctrine that Mary was conceived without original sin—were cherished among Catholic patrons, especially from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. Murillo himself had strong ties to the Franciscans and the subject likely appealed to both patrons and artist alike. According to Catholic faith, by being born without sin Mary was prepared to be the mother of Christ.

Mary is shown at a young age, dressed in white with a blue cloak and bathed in golden light. She clasps her hands in prayer and looks heavenward. Floating among clouds and surrounded by angels, Mary stands on a crescent moon that symbolizes beauty. Other symbolic imagery includes white lilies held by angels to indicate the Virgin’s purity as well as a palm frond to suggest Christ’s ultimate victory over death. An

Mrs. James A. Chew, Mr. and Mrs. L. E. Simonds, Mr. and Mrs. T. W. Chesterton, Dr. and Mrs. Janusz S.