Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2011.

Infant Saint John the Baptist Embracing the Lamb

Artist Bartolomé Estebán Murillo (Spanish (Seville), 1617 - 1682)

CultureSpanish

Date1665

MediumChalk, paper

DimensionsOverall: 11 7/8 x 8 1/2 in. (30.2 x 21.6 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase

Object number50.49.18

Not on view

DescriptionRed and black chalk drawing of a young St. John holding a lamb.

Label TextBartolomé Esteban Murillo Spanish (1617-1682) Infant Saint John the Baptist Embracing the Lamb, 1665 Red and black chalk Museum purchase 50.49.18 Dominating the 17th-century Sevillian school of painting, Murillo devoted himself above all to religious subjects, which he interpreted with a characteristic sweetness. He made this elaborately finished chalk drawing in preparation for his painting The Young Saint John the Baptist with the Lamb, completed in 1665 for the church of Santa Maria la Blanca in Seville. The painting today is in the National Gallery, London. In the drawing the lamb represents Christ, as indicated by the inscription of Saint John's banner: Ecce Agnus Dei (Behold the Lamb of God). Murillo frequently made such chalk drawings to secure the design of an important altar painting. In the present drawing he employed a lush "two-color" technique to establish something of the chromatic and atmospheric effects he hoped to achieve in the final work. Provenance[From the 2015 catalogue raisonné by Mena Marqués] Seville, Earl of Águila (?). Seville, Francisco de Bruna (?). A Fitzherbert, Baron of St. Helens (sold by Christie's, May 26, 1840, lot 132) to W. Buchanan. J. Rushout, Earl of Northwick, to C. Morse (sold at Sotheby's, July 4, 1873, lot 148) to Hogarth. A. Hert. Purchased by Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, 1950.Exhibition History"Drawings from the Collection of the Norfolk Museum," Cummer Gallery of Art, Jacksonville, FL, 1965. "Murillo and His Drawings," Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ, 1976-1977. "Master Drawings from the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, February 26 - April 23, 1989. "Grand Designs: Preliminary Drawings and Oil Sketches from The Chrysler Museum", Chrysler Museum of Art, April 2 - June 22, 1994. "Behind the Seen: The Chrysler's Hidden Museum," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, October 21, 2005 - February 19, 2006. Published ReferencesChrysler Museum of Art, _Old Master Drawings_, exhibition catalogue (Norfolk, VA: W.A. Grubb Co., Inc.) 1950, cat. no. 50. Jonathan Brown, _Murillo and His Drawings_ exhibition catalogue (Princeton: The Art Museum, Princeton University Press, 1976) 96-97, no. 25. Diego Angulo Íñiguez, "Exposición de dibujos de Murillo en Princeton," _Archivo Español de Arte_ L/199 (1977) 338. A. Hyatt Mayor, "Review. Jonathan Brown, Murillo and His Drawings," _Master Drawings_, 15/2 (1977) 185. Diego Angulo Íñiguez, _Murillo_ (Madrid: Espasa Calpe, 1981) vol. II, 270. Manuela B. Mena Marqués, _Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682)_, exhibition catalogue (Madrid: Museo del Prado-Londres, Royal Academy of Arts, Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura-Fundación Juan March-Londres: Royal Academy of Arts, 1982) 89, note 12 (English edition, p. 63, note 12). Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 91, fig. 108. Jonathan Brown, _Murillo: Virtuoso Draftsman_ (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, May 8, 2012), 35, 96 Cat. 25, 99 detail. Manuela B. Mena Marqués, _Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682): Dibujos, Catálogo Razonado_ (Santander, Spain: Fundación Botín, 2015) 516-519, cat. no. 104Aa.