Francisco Zurbaran Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Francisco de Zurbaran, born in 1598 in Fuente de Cantos, was a Spanish artist known for his religious subjects, characterized by a typical Caravaggio-esque naturalism and tenebrism. From 1614 to 1616 he was apprenticed to Pedro Diaz de Villanueva in Seville where he spent much of his life. Read the full biography

Francisco de Zurbaran, born in 1598 in Fuente de Cantos, was a Spanish artist known for his religious subjects, characterized by a typical Caravaggio-esque naturalism and tenebrism. From 1614 to 1616 he was apprenticed to Pedro Diaz de Villanueva in Seville where he spent much of his life. Over the years he lived in Llerena, near his hometown, and then in Seville, where he encountered the first works of Velazquez and José de Ribera. De Zurbaran was appointed court painter by Philip IV and created works for the monastic orders of Seville. From 1650 onwards the artist suffered a major financial crisis, partly caused by the loss in war of ships carrying payments from clients in South America. This crisis led him to move to Madrid in 1658. He died in poverty and without glory, in 1664 in Madrid.