Bartolomé Esteban Murillo: Life, Death, and Artistic Legacy

The Final Years and Legacy of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

In 1680, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo traveled to Cadiz to paint an altarpiece, the 'Marriage of Saint Catherine.' A severe indisposition, possibly from a fall, forced him to leave the work unfinished, to be completed by his pupil Menesès Osorio. Mortally afflicted, Murillo returned to Seville, where he spent his final days in meditation before Pedro Campana's 'Descent from the Cross.' His last will and testament, dictated on April 3, 1682, just before his death, reveals the honest and simple character of the man, meticulously settling his affairs and commissions. This document provides a unique insight into the final moments of the great Spanish master and the state of his workshop.

unknownJune 1, 2026

After completing the decoration of the Capuchin convent in Seville, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo departed for Cadiz. This journey took place at the beginning of the year 1680. Murillo was to paint a large altarpiece, The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Siena, and several other less important subjects, in fulfillment of a long-standing promise to the Capuchins of that city.

The Final Commission and Mortal Injury

A sum of nine hundred piastres fuertes was allocated for this work, originating from a bequest made to the convent by a wealthy merchant named Juan Violato, a Genoese national established in Cadiz. Murillo set to work immediately, and within a few weeks, he had already prepared and begun to paint the beautiful group of the saint receiving the ring of mystical betrothal from the hands of the infant Jesus, who sat on his mother's lap.

The Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine of Siena — Murillo's *The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Siena*, the altarpiece he began for the Capuchin convent in Cadiz as described in the paragraph above.

However, a serious illness, or perhaps a fall from his scaffolding—for tradition is not unanimous on this point—forced him to leave his painting unfinished. It was Menesès Osorio, his favorite student, who completed the Saint Catherine. Murillo had felt himself mortally wounded. He returned immediately to Seville, where his life became a period of languor and suffering.

At that time, he lived in the parish of Santa-Cruz, and every day he would go to the church to meditate for a few hours before the famous painting by Pedro Campana, the Descent from the Cross, for which he held a kind of reverence. "One can understand," remarks M. A. de Latour, "this admiration in the leader of a school that was at once naturalistic and Catholic; for, alongside the religious sentiment revealed in the overall composition of this painting and in the choice of the moment, with an ideal majesty, there is a reality in the details that engages the eye."

A saying attributed to Murillo wonderfully conveys the dual interest that constantly drew him back and held him for so long before the august scene. One evening, as he lingered longer than usual, the sacristan in charge of closing the doors approached him and said, "What are you waiting for to leave? The Angelus has rung."

"I am waiting," replied Murillo, "for these holy men to finish taking our Lord down from the cross."

Notes

¹ Here is what W. Bürger wrote in his *Trésors d'art en Angleterre* about these two portraits, which were shown at the Manchester Exhibition in 1857: "France once had two self-portraits by Murillo: one in the Spanish museum, bought in Spain for 50,000 francs, I believe, by Baron Taylor, and which did not seem to be esteemed in France according to its merit; the other in the Standish gallery, which was considered a rather weak copy of the first. They are both here at the Manchester exhibition. The one from the Spanish museum, which is perfectly original and very beautiful, and very precious, was bought by Lord Stanley at the sale of the art objects of the late King Louis-Philippe.

It is, one recalls, a bust in an oval medallion, on the edge of which rests the right hand, a superbly painted hand. The powerful head is three-quarters to the right and bears some resemblance to the beautiful head of Molière. The canvas bears an inscription at the bottom. The one from the Standish gallery, which cannot be a copy or a repetition since it is arranged differently, has much less character; but still, it is not to be disdained. Perhaps it was painted in the master's studio by one of his students." ↑

The Final Years and Legacy of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

The Final Commission and Mortal Injury

Murillo, Bartolomé Esteban

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