Seville 1618–1682) workshop of Madonna with the garland of roses, oil on canvas, 150 x 100 cm, framed

Provenance: Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris-New York (as work by Murillo); Catholin Lambert Sale, New York 1916, lot 253 (as work by Murillo); D. George Dery coll., New York; auction of the American Art Association, New York, 19 April 1923, lot 143 (as work by Murillo); Thomas Kirby coll., New York; private collection, New England, USA; inherited by the current owner. Literature: Diego Angulo Iniguez, Murillo, vol. II, p. 407, cat. no. 1114; vol. III, pl. 539. We are grateful for the assistance of Prof Enrique Valdivieso Gonzales, University of Seville, who attributes this picture to an artist from the workshop of Murillo (e-mail to the consignor, dated May 2009). Murillo was apprenticed to Juan de Castillo, where he was strongly influenced by the then leading Spanish realists - Ribera and Zurbarán. When his teacher moved to Cadiz, within the space of a few years Murillo became the leading artist in the city, attracting smaller commissions at first which gradually gained in importance. Particularly popular even in this early phase of his work were his Marian scenes. After a stay in Madrid, where he became acquainted with Velazquez, the already well-known artist founded an academy of fine arts, of which he became president, as an extension of his already flourishing workshop. This Madonna of the garland of roses is an example of the work produced during the heyday of the Spanish Siglo d’Oro, which probably dates to the peak of Murillo’s practice and that of his workshop in the 1660s in Seville. Due to its extraordinary quality the present work was long considered as an autograph work by the master. Recent research attributes it to the immediate workshop of Murillo. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that neither Iniguez nor Valdivieso Gonzalez has inspected the painting in the original. The degree to which this is a composition started by the master and later completed by one of his pupils, or whether it is an independent work by a pupil can barely be determined.