Zurbaran

by Francesca Whitlum-Cooper, Ignacio Cano (Contributor), Charlotte Chastel-Rousseau (Contributor)

Dedicated to Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664), one of the great painters of seventeenth‑century Spain, this publication celebrates the drama and power of his distinctive body of work.A peer of Murillo and Velázquez, Zurbarán’s innovative approach to sacred subjects imbues his works with a startling naturalism and deep emotional force. He spent most of his life in Seville, then one of the wealthiest cities in Europe. Working for monasteries, private patrons and the King of Spain, he produced striking depictions of saints and altarpieces of staggering scale and ingenuity. His still-life paintings, rich in finely observed details and charged with symbolism, remain vivid today. Written by experts in the field and featuring exciting new discoveries, this lavishly illustrated publication explores Zurbarán’s most important commissions, from dramatic religious visions to tender domestic scenes, offering a fresh appraisal of this singularly gifted artist.
 
Exhibition

The National Gallery, London
(2 May–23 August 2026)

Musée du Louvre, Paris
(7 October 2026-25 January 2027)

Art Institute of Chicago
(28 February-20 June 2027)Published by National Gallery Global Ltd/Distributed by Yale University Press

Genres: Art

208 pages, Hardcover

Published July 7, 2026

Reviews

[Liam Branaghan · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

Read to prepare for a visit to Seville in a few weeks.

The catalogue contains essays covering Zurbaran’s life (or what is known of it at least), his work and the history of Andalusia.

It’s clearer to me now how bustling Seville was in the 17th Century and how that created the environment for Zurbaran and his workshop. The catalogue details some works by his contemporaries and some that understandably couldn’t travel to London.