Bartolome Esteban Murillo - Isaac Blessing Jacob [c.1660]

Bartolome Esteban Murillo - Isaac Blessing Jacob [c.1660], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Murillo was apprenticed early to the painter Juan del Castillo. When, in 1639, Castillo left Seville for Cadiz, Murillo did not enter any workshop of a known artist, as it was the traditional way of all the beginners, but preferred to stay independent. It is said that to gain a living Murillo started to make sargas - cheap paintings on rough canvas sold at country fairs, and shipped to America by traders. Obviously his paintings appealed to the taste of the public, besides they revealed a certain talent of the young man. That was why the Franciscan monastery in Seville commissioned this unknown artist with a cycle of 11 paintings with scenes from the lives of Franciscan saints, which, after their execution, brought Murillo fame. The artist seldom dated his works.

[Oil on canvas, 245 x 357 cm]