Foundation of Santa María Maggiore in Rome: I. The dream of the Patrician John, Prado Museum, Madrid at Spain is culture.

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Outstanding works / Baroque and Spanish Golden Age / Prado Museum

Foundation of Santa María Maggiore in Rome: I. The dream of the Patrician John

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‘Foundation of Santa María Maggiore in Rome: I. The Dream of the Patrician John’ © Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

Category

Painting

Date

1664 - 1665

Artist

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

Cultural background

Spanish School

Original title

Fundación de Santa María Maggiore de Roma: I. El sueño del patricio Juan

Prado Museum
Madrid
Madrid

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This is one of Murillo’s most important pictorial compositions, both for its size and its ambition, and the masterly approach used in the pictorial narration.

The series (formed by two paintings) represents the miraculous origin of the foundation of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. They were commissioned for the church of Santa María la Blanca in Seville and placed just below the vault, which accounts for their shape.

This work belongs to the period of Murillo’s greatest artistic maturity and is one of his most successful creations. The gold ornamentation in the French neoclassical style was added in 1820 when the pieces were sent to France. They returned to Spain three years later and were housed in the Royal Academy of San Fernando.