Bartolomé Esteban Murillo: Four Figures on a Step

Generous loan from the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth

Best known for his moving religious paintings, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was revolutionary in Spain for painting street scenes, of which the Kimbell’s Four Figures on a Step is a rare and charming example. We no longer know who is depicted; the mysterious group has been identified variously as street urchins, the artist’s family, a prostitute procuress, or a delouser. In his inimitably bold style Murillo deftly describes four highly individual characters, shedding light on daily life in 17th-century Spain. During its visit, the Kimbell’s arresting genre painting will enhance the Cleveland Museum of Art’s other Murillo paintings from the artist’s later career: Laban Searching for his Stolen Household Gods, and The Immaculate Conception. Within the context of Cleveland’s Spanish Baroque collection that includes paintings by Zurbarán, El Greco, and Velázquez, Murillo’s Four Figures on a Step allows viewers to experience the astounding depth and beauty of the golden age of Spanish painting.

Four Figures on a Step, c. 1655–60   
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (Spanish, 1617–1682)
Oil on canvas; 109.9 x 143.5 cm.     
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, AP 1984.18