DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49256#0019
MURILLO. 5
the power of light and shade Was so forcibly rendered from a close study of the works of
Ribera. Carried off in the artillery waggons of the French générais, sonie of these paintings,
such as the “Franciscan Cook in an Ecstasy,” hâve contributed to enrich the magnificent
muséum of Marshal Soult; others, such as “the Death of Santa Clara,”* hâve constituted the
pride of the Aguado gallery. To the second phase of Murillo’s talent bolongs “a Banditti
Scene,” in which, from a landscapc background, vigorously painted, are relievcd the figures
of a monk and a half-naked robber into whose clutches ho lias fallen. The whole is executcd
in the inanner of Spagnoletto ; as well as a “ Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt,”f which
represents the infant Jésus affectionately folded in the amis of His mother on the back of
that humble quadruped lie afterwards chose for His triumphal entry into Jérusalem, while
Joseph the carpenter, leading the animal by the bridle, hastens forward through the shades
of night.
In a country like Spain Murillo must hâve easily won the love of the masses. He
was essentially endowed with ail that could please the Spaniards. Differing in that respect
from Velasquez, who portrayed by preference the nobler attributes of the national charactcr,
he devoted himsclf to the illustration of its more vulgar qualifies, and that of the ordinary
and general habits and manners of the pcople, with ail the contrasts which they offer in
a nation so profoundly catholic. He could paint the sacrcd ferveur of the devotee, or the
ecstasy of the monkish enthusiast, as well as the raggedness of the proud mendicant, or
the abject suffering of Job. Being himself of a pious disposition, ho frequently went to
pray for whole hours in his own parochial church, and was sure to remark after service
such beauties as might peep through their window-blinds to attract notice. As a catholic,
Murillo was at once worldly and devout ; as a Christian, he bore an equal love to ail human
créatures, whether they were ill made or elegantly formed, disfigured by poverty or set
off by luxury, filthy to exccss, or adorned like queens and radiant as Seraphim. Behold
him issuing from the cloister of the Franciscans, where ho lias been painting an apparition
of angels, who might be said to be arrayed in robes of light; at the corner of the first
Street he perçoives through a window an urchin with a shaven head squatting against a
Gothic ruin, busily engaged in ridding himself of some of those insinuating frionds, whose
society is anything but a luxury. Any other person would hâve averted his gaze, but
Murillo, on the contrary, stops ; he is struck with the effect produced by the sunbeam
which lias penetrated through the opening and heightened the tonc of the urchin’s rags.
Ile finds the attitude artless, and the subject picturesque ; the accident of light is vivid,
piquant, and warm, and the head in good relief. In one moment the pointer lias sketched
his chance model, if not on paper, at least in his mind’s eye, and on returning to his
studio he paints that littlo gein of observation, so broad in its simplicity of light and
shade, which is now so mueh admired at the Louvre under the title of the “ Youthful
Mendicant.” J Nor lias lie forgotten any of the acccssories ; ncither the simple pitcher of
water, nor the old basket in which some fruit appears, nor the shrimps scattered on the
table-cloth, which is the bare earth ; the préparations for or leavings of a frugal repast,
the begnining and end of which are pretty much alike. The head is full of charactcr ; the
•’f This fine picture was brought from Spain by M. Mathieu Fabvier, Commissary-general of the French
army, as were also “St. Diego Praying,” and “the Réception of St. Giles.” Vide “Le Cabinet de VAmateur
et de V Antiquaire” vol. ii. 1843.
t These two pictures formed part of the gallery of the late Marshal Soult.
t The Spaniards call this picture El Piojoso.
the power of light and shade Was so forcibly rendered from a close study of the works of
Ribera. Carried off in the artillery waggons of the French générais, sonie of these paintings,
such as the “Franciscan Cook in an Ecstasy,” hâve contributed to enrich the magnificent
muséum of Marshal Soult; others, such as “the Death of Santa Clara,”* hâve constituted the
pride of the Aguado gallery. To the second phase of Murillo’s talent bolongs “a Banditti
Scene,” in which, from a landscapc background, vigorously painted, are relievcd the figures
of a monk and a half-naked robber into whose clutches ho lias fallen. The whole is executcd
in the inanner of Spagnoletto ; as well as a “ Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt,”f which
represents the infant Jésus affectionately folded in the amis of His mother on the back of
that humble quadruped lie afterwards chose for His triumphal entry into Jérusalem, while
Joseph the carpenter, leading the animal by the bridle, hastens forward through the shades
of night.
In a country like Spain Murillo must hâve easily won the love of the masses. He
was essentially endowed with ail that could please the Spaniards. Differing in that respect
from Velasquez, who portrayed by preference the nobler attributes of the national charactcr,
he devoted himsclf to the illustration of its more vulgar qualifies, and that of the ordinary
and general habits and manners of the pcople, with ail the contrasts which they offer in
a nation so profoundly catholic. He could paint the sacrcd ferveur of the devotee, or the
ecstasy of the monkish enthusiast, as well as the raggedness of the proud mendicant, or
the abject suffering of Job. Being himself of a pious disposition, ho frequently went to
pray for whole hours in his own parochial church, and was sure to remark after service
such beauties as might peep through their window-blinds to attract notice. As a catholic,
Murillo was at once worldly and devout ; as a Christian, he bore an equal love to ail human
créatures, whether they were ill made or elegantly formed, disfigured by poverty or set
off by luxury, filthy to exccss, or adorned like queens and radiant as Seraphim. Behold
him issuing from the cloister of the Franciscans, where ho lias been painting an apparition
of angels, who might be said to be arrayed in robes of light; at the corner of the first
Street he perçoives through a window an urchin with a shaven head squatting against a
Gothic ruin, busily engaged in ridding himself of some of those insinuating frionds, whose
society is anything but a luxury. Any other person would hâve averted his gaze, but
Murillo, on the contrary, stops ; he is struck with the effect produced by the sunbeam
which lias penetrated through the opening and heightened the tonc of the urchin’s rags.
Ile finds the attitude artless, and the subject picturesque ; the accident of light is vivid,
piquant, and warm, and the head in good relief. In one moment the pointer lias sketched
his chance model, if not on paper, at least in his mind’s eye, and on returning to his
studio he paints that littlo gein of observation, so broad in its simplicity of light and
shade, which is now so mueh admired at the Louvre under the title of the “ Youthful
Mendicant.” J Nor lias lie forgotten any of the acccssories ; ncither the simple pitcher of
water, nor the old basket in which some fruit appears, nor the shrimps scattered on the
table-cloth, which is the bare earth ; the préparations for or leavings of a frugal repast,
the begnining and end of which are pretty much alike. The head is full of charactcr ; the
•’f This fine picture was brought from Spain by M. Mathieu Fabvier, Commissary-general of the French
army, as were also “St. Diego Praying,” and “the Réception of St. Giles.” Vide “Le Cabinet de VAmateur
et de V Antiquaire” vol. ii. 1843.
t These two pictures formed part of the gallery of the late Marshal Soult.
t The Spaniards call this picture El Piojoso.