Art historian Peter Cherry will deliver a lecture devoted to the life and work of Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664), one of the most distinctive and recognisable painters of the Spanish Baroque. The talk will offer an approach grounded in decades of research on the artist, combining stylistic analysis with an examination of the social, religious, and economic context in which Zurbarán developed his career.
Throughout the lecture, the main stages of Zurbarán’s trajectory will be explored, from his early years in Extremadura and his consolidation in Seville—one of the most active artistic centres of the Spanish Golden Age—to the international reach of his work and his engagement with artistic markets in Spain and the Americas. Key aspects such as his relationship with religious orders, the commissioning system, the functioning of his workshop, and the circulation of his paintings will also be addressed.
Peter Cherry will place particular emphasis on the defining features of Zurbarán’s pictorial language: compositional austerity, the expressive use of light, the material presence of fabrics and objects, and the intense spirituality that characterises his figures. Both his major religious cycles—saints, martyrs, and devotional scenes—and his celebrated still lifes will be analysed, revealing an exceptional vision of everyday life and a profound understanding of Baroque visual symbolism.
Internationally recognised as one of the leading specialists in seventeenth-century Spanish painting, Peter Cherry is the author of seminal studies on Zurbarán and other artists of his circle. His lecture at the Zurbarán Centre will offer a nuanced and up-to-date view of the painter, inviting audiences to move beyond clichés and to situate his work within a broad historical and cultural framework.
The lecture is aimed at researchers and students of art history, as well as at the general public interested in gaining a deeper understanding of one of the great masters of Spanish painting.
