Artwork Title: Self Portrait
42 1/8 x 30 1/2 inches The painting is among Murillo’s earliest known works and dates from the first half of the 1650s, when the artist was in his mid -thirties. It was probably intended for his own collection, as is suggested by its later documentation in his son’s collection. Murillo presents himself in a black jacket typical of the Spanish upper class. His sleeves are slashed and reveal his white shirt underneath, and he wears a rigid white collar, known in Spanish as a golilla. The painter’s hair is long, over his shoulders, and he sports a fashionable moustache and slender goatee. No attributes or objects identify him as an artist; however, a long inscription in red letters declares him a famous p ainter. Because the inscription incorrectly gives his birth date as 1618 (instead of 1617) and states his death date, we know that it was added posthumously. Murillo’s face is surrounded by a trompe l’oeil stone frame, a hollowed- out block, chipped and eroded by time. The block, in turn, is propped on top of a stone ledge. This fictive frame is unique in concept and is not found in any other work by the painter or by his followers. [http://arthistorynewsreport.blogspot.nl/2017/11/murillo-self-portraits.html]
Uploaded on Feb 26, 2018 by Suzan Hamer

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