Spain / c. 1670–72
Madonna Nursing the Christ Child
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Madonna Nursing the Christ Child as drawing (Spain · c. 1670–72).
The inscription Morillo on this drawing is not the artist's signature but rather a notation likely made by a 17th-century owner of the drawing.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this drawing as pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash over red and black chalk, with traces of white; framing lines in pen and brown ink and credits Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (Spanish, 1617–1682).
The museum's collection notes: One of the finest of the rare drawings by Murillo, this sheet is a study for Virgin and Child , commissioned for the family chapel of the Marques de Santiago in Madrid and now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Prized today for their dynamism, Murillo’s drawings served the practical purpose of working out the positions of the figures. Here, the artist suggested the tender bond between mother and child with the poignant connection of their gazes. His animated line and zigzag hatching create the feeling of incessant motion while the addition of ink wash creates deep shadows across the forms.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtMadonna Nursing the Christ ChildOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.