Zurbar?n: Selected Paintings 1625-1664

By Cees Nooteboom

Book Overview

The strange, very Catholic world of Francisco deZurbaran's paintings is as fascinating today as it isessentially foreign. Christ on the Cross, dead martyrs, remote saints, meditating monks, the superiors oforders that have long since been dissolved, all appearin images, usually with a black ground, so realisticallyone feels one could reach out and touch them. And yetthey have the feel of messengers from a differentworld.In his essay for this book, Dutch writer CeesNooteboom compares Zurbaran's figures with aliens: "From their faces with wide-open eyes comes a raythat is precisely not that of death, but speaks of asilent ecstasy, a mystical devoutness that is nolonger of this world." For Zurbaran (1598-1664), a contemporary of Velazquez and Murillo, paintingand religious immersion were two sides of the sameexercise. Perhaps it is precisely this aspect of his artthat is ensuring his images are once again attractingso much interest."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 3829607385
• ISBN13: 9783829607384
• Release Date: November 2015
• Publisher: Schirmer Mosel
• Length: 132 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.0" x 9.4"