Bartolomé Esteban Murillo Seville 1618 - 1682

Possibly in the Royal Collection of Louis Philippe, King of the French (1773 - 1850);
The Birchall Collection, during the 19th century;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 8 July 1987, lot 72, for £46,000.

This painting of La Virgen by Murillo is in all probability a fragment from one of the artist's large-scale representations of La Inmaculada. This is suggested by the fact that the Virgin's head is uncovered and light radiates from behind. The style of the work, as well as the facial type of the Virgin, are reminiscent of a depiction of the Virgin by Murillo in his painting of The Two Trinities in the National Gallery, which Maclaren dates to the end of the artist's life (see N. Maclaren, National Gallery Catalogues, The Spanish School, 1952, pp. 60-63, no. 13), during the early 1680s.

When in the Birchall Collection during the 19th century, the present work had a label which stated 'Donné par le roi', on the basis of which it was believed to have come from the collection of Louis Philippe, King of the French (1773 - 1850). The King's interest in Spanish painting is demonstrated by his acquisition of 450 Spanish works, bought through Isidore-Justin-Severin Taylor, which were subsequently displayed in the Musée du Louvre (in 1838 - 1848). In 1841Taylor brought from England the collection of Spanish paintings bequeathed by Frank Hall Standish to the French monarch. All of these paintings were returned to Louis-Philippe after his abdication and were sold in a single sale at Christie's in London in 1853.