Description:

From the Richmond, VA estate of philanthropists Rudolph and Esther Bunzl comes an incredible and rare piece of art. This painting by Bartoleme Esteban Murillo (1617-1682) is of St. Joseph and the Christ Child. It is old, provenanced, and quite incredible. This work is on a panel and the age is appropriate. The painting surface is in good condition but could use a cleaning. It is possible that there was inpainting or restoration done on it because it has that look in places, and because there is a sticker on the back frame for the Gallery Mayo, which was a prominent, high end art gallery in the Richmond area from the 1970s until 2000. We contacted the Mayos and they indicated that this sticker would indicate that they did restoration work on this piece. On that sticker is written “Bunzl” in cursive. The Mayos indicate that they did a great deal of work for the Bunzl family. There is a sheen to the painting that denotes a coat of protective varnish. St. Joseph and the Christ Child is a theme that Murillo painted over and again. He came back to this subject many times over the course of his life. Compositionally and thematically, it is correct. We suggest that this may have been a study for a larger work or perhaps it simply came out of his workshop. It has several labels and information on the back. Starting with the frame, in the top left, you will find a circular label attributing the painting to Murillo. It has three lines of text which read (top to bottom) "Murillo" and "CNNN.-" in ink, then "11180" in graphite. Next to that, you will find what appears to be an inventory number of "TSLEU" and then, below, "URSI". Then there is the label from "Gallery Mayo", circa mid-1970s, with the name of the client, "Bunzl" in cursive. As for the panel itself, in the top left of the panel, you will find "11180" written in perhaps conte or colored pencil. This is the same number that is located on the circular label on the frame. The next two things are difficult to see, so we did a rubbing to help (see picture). Toward the top right, there are two capital "B"s which are impressed into the wood via writing utensil. They are highly abraded and almost impossible to capture via camera. If you research Murillo's signature, you will see that he monogrammed BMB. While the first "B" and the "M" are badly abraded, the final "B" can be read and it is a dead ringer for his handwriting. Below that, toward the center of the panel, there is a very, very, very faint stamp. It is too far gone to read with the human eye. Perhaps there is a technology out there that can read it, but we do not have that capability. Given the history supported by the back of the painting, it is evident why this work has been attributed to Murillo throughout the years. The technique, donnee, subject matter, age, labels, inscriptions, and supporting evidence are all there for this to be s Murillo. Research by the previous owner of this piece points to it having possibly belonged to the Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City. Reference the "Gui?a del archivo de la antigua Academia de San Carlos, 1781-1910" for information leading back to that institution. But we were not able to completely substantiate that correlation. THERE ARE 25 PICTURES, FRONT AND BACK, TAKEN WITH UV LIGHT THAT ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.

    Provenance:
  • Acquired from Bunzl Estate of Richmond, Virginia. See Description.
  • Dimensions:
  • 15in x 12in x 2in
  • Artist Name:
  • BARTOLEME ESTEBAN MURILLO
  • Medium:
  • Oil Painting on Panel
  • Circa:
  • 1600s
  • Notes:
  • About the Artist: Bartolome Murillo was born in Seville, Spain on January 1, 1617 and was orphaned at the age of ten.  He studied under Juan del Castillo.  By the age of twenty-three he was already painting on his own and selling his pictures itinerantly at fairs in Seville. His early works are somewhat clumsy and heavy in color. He visited Madrid between 1641 and 1644, at which time he could have studied and profited by the works of Rubens, Van Dyck, Titian and Correggio which were to be seen there. This would explain his increasingly harmonious color, the subtler atmosphere and the freer brushwork which soon began to characterize his style. He worked for a time in 1642 under Velasquez in Madrid. In 1660 he became the first president of the Seville Academy of Painting, but resigned from office five years later. In 1665 he began a series of twenty-two pictures for the altars of the church of the Capuchin Convent. In 1682, while at work on a painting for the high altar of the Capuchin Church of Cadiz, he fell from the scaffold and sustained injuries which hastened his death.
  • Condition:
  • Excellent

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October 29, 2020 3:00 PM EDT
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