Murillo and artistic Sevilla

Between the late 16th and the whole 17th century, Sevilla was one of the artistic capitals of Europe. The reason is simple: it was the gateway to the New World, with money, rich convents and a clientele hungry for devotional images. In that atmosphere three names appear that are still studied worldwide. The first is Diego Velázquez, born in Sevilla in 1599. Here he trained with Francisco Pacheco, here he painted his early tavern scenes — bodegones — before leaving for Madrid as court painter to Philip IV. The second is Francisco de Zurbarán, the painter of convents: saints, martyrs and monks in a dry, almost photographic light. The third is Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, who shaped the sweet face of the Virgin and of the city's street children. Murillo was born in Sevilla in 1617, married and raised a family here, founded the city's first painting academy and died here in 1682 after falling from a scaffold in Cádiz. Around them worked sculptors such as Juan Martínez Montañés, whose Christs and Virgins still come out at Holy Week, and Pedro Roldán, author of the altarpiece of the Caridad. Visitor tip: to know these masters, visit the Museo de Bellas Artes in the former Merced convent, one of Spain's finest; then the church of the Hospital de la Caridad, where Murillo painted whole cycles for the poor; and finish at the Hospital de los Venerables. In one afternoon, you'll have a full sense of Sevilla's Golden Age.