Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

Private collection, Madrid.

E. Valdivieso, Murillo. Catálogo Razonado de Pinturas, Madrid 2010, p. 284, cat. no. 33, reproduced.

The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar who is an external expert and not an employee of Sotheby's. Structural Condition The artist's original canvas would appear to be unlined having perhaps been delined and the turnover and tacking edges have been strengthened with a thin strip lining. There are traces of resin and staining on the back of the canvas and small areas of repair that have been patched. The canvas is evenly and securely stretched and the structural condition is sound and stable. Paint Surface The paint surface has an even varnish layer and scattered retouchings are visible under ultraviolet light, the majority of which are small spots and areas of inpainting although there are some more significant retouchings: 1) a horizontal line running parallel to and approximately 6 cm above the lower horizontal framing edge, 2) a band of retouching running parallel to the right vertical framing edge and retouchings along the left vertical framing edge, 3) an area in the background to the right of the standing figure which measures approximately 9 x 3.5 cm and other scattered retouchings in the background. 4) Small retouchings highlighting the contours of the altar cloth in the lower left of the composition and small scattered retouchings on the figure of St Bonaventura. Summary The painting is therefore appears to be in good and stable condition and no further work is required for reasons of conservation.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This full-length depiction of Saint Bonaventura has as its probable pendant the Saint Thomas Aquinas in a private collection, Barcelona.¹ Both works were most likely executed around 1650.

Saint Bonaventura is given a monumentality befitting his stature in the Franciscan church. He is depicted solemn, his bishop's mitre on the stone ledge or altar beside him, his cardinal's hat tied around his neck, awoken from his writing by a celestial light. Bonaventura was a man of profound humilty, as exemplified by the story that, when his cardinal's hat was brought to him, he told the papal envoy to hang it on a nearby tree as at that moment he was employed in washing the dishes. He considered himself unworthy to receive the Sacrament and thus it is told that an angel handed it to him. He wears here the Franciscan habit and the mitre alludes to his bishopric of Albano.

1. See Valdivieso, under Literature, p. 284, cat. no. 32, reproduced.