Colombia or Venezuela, 18th Century The Virgin and Child Oil on canvas28 ½ x 26 ½ inches; framed size 39 ¾ x 37 ½ inches Though this painting owes its format and ample figures to Baroque works from Spain, its style and palette are also influenced by New World precursors and contemporaries like Gregorio Vázquez (1738-1711) of Colombia and Juan Pedro López (1724-1787) who worked in Venezuela. However, this present work has the rich palette (but not tenebrism) of some of Murillo’s paintings. There is another issue to consider, and that is the fact that Gabriel Murillo, the painter-son of the Andalusian painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (b. 1657 – d.?), went to Colombia and settled there in 1677/8. He had become a Franciscan, and various documents call him a military officer, collector of art, and casual dealer; an amateur. We do not know when he died, but surely his father’s reputation preceded him to the New World. It is reasonable to assume that he cultivated the Murillo style in his adopted country, and that influenced other artists there.It is likely that this work dates post-1717, when the Viceroyalty of Perú was subdivided, and this painting would have come from the area re-designated the Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada.
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