Spain in 1830, vol. 1Inglis, Henry D. (Henry David)
History
Spain in 1830, vol. 1
Inglis, Henry D. (Henry David)
Spain -- Description and travel
The last picture that engaged the hand of Murillo, was one which he
undertook for the Altar Mayor of the Capuchin convent at Cadiz. This was
in the latter end of the year 1681; but he did not live to complete the
work. While engaged upon this picture, he fell from the scaffold, and
was so much injured, as to be obliged to return to Seville. But the
shock he had received, aided by declining years, produced disease; and
his illness increased until the evening of the third day of April in the
following year, when he expired in the arms of his friend and disciple,
Don Pedro Nuñez de Villavicencio.
From the will of Murillo, preserved in the Franciscan convent of
Seville, it appears that he left little property besides that which he
acquired by his marriage. This was bequeathed to his sons; for his only
daughter had taken the veil early in life. In this will, there is also
contained an inventory of his pictures, among which one of himself is
mentioned. This picture, now in the possession of Mr. Williams, of
Seville, represents Murillo about the age of thirty, nearly the time of
his marriage, and conveys a very pleasing idea of the appearance and
character of the painter. The proprietor, himself an excellent artist,
and an intelligent man, has made a masterly drawing from the original:
the drawing is in the possession of Mr. Brackenbury, his Britannic
majesty’s consul at Cadiz; and from that gentleman’s admiration of
Murillo, it may be hoped, that an engraving from it may soon enable
every admirer of that illustrious man to have the gratification of
possessing his likeness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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