Next spring, from May 2 to August 23, 2026, the National Gallery in London will host the first major monographic exhibition in the United Kingdom devoted to Francisco de Zurbarán, curated by Daniel Sobrino Ralston, Francesca Whitlum-Cooper and Imogen Tedbury, in collaboration with Charlotte Chastel-Rousseau (Musée du Louvre) and Rebecca Long (Art Institute of Chicago), and organized by the National Gallery in London, the Musée du Louvre in Paris and the Art Institute of Chicago. Considered, along with Diego Velázquez and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, to be among the leading figures in 17th-century Spanish art, Zurbarán is famous for his intense life-size paintings of saints, monumental altarpieces and still lifes. His works are striking for their realism, expressive force, and visual immediacy.
In 1994 the Jacob and His Twelve Sons series from Auckland Castle was exhibited at the National Gallery, and some of his works were also previously included in the exhibition The Sacred Become Real, organized between 2009 and 2010.
The exhibition will present about 50 paintings, tracing the entire artistic and thematic evolution of his career. Alongside masterpieces housed in the National Gallery, such as Saint Margaret of Antioch, A Glass of Water and a Rose, and Still Life with Lemons in a Wicker Basket by Juan de Zurbarán, paintings from prestigious international museums such as the Louvre(St. Bonaventure and St. Apollonia) and the Art Institute of Chicago(Crucifixion, St. Roman of Antioch and St. Barula, and Flowers and Fruit in a Chinese Bowl by Juan de Zurbarán) will be on view. After London, the exhibition will move to these two institutions between October 2026 and June 2027 (at the Musée du Louvre from October 7, 2026 to January 25, 2027; at the Art Institute of Chicago from February 28 to June 20, 2027).
The exhibition will also be enriched by exceptional loans from France (Saint Francis of Assisi, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon), Spain (Agnus Dei, Museo Nacional del Prado; Immaculate Conception, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya) and the United States (Christ and the Virgin in the House of Nazareth, Cleveland Museum of Art), offering a comprehensive view of Zurbarán’s production, capable of conveying the sense of mystery, inner vision and evocative power that characterize his painting.
Zurbarán lived much of his existence in Seville, which in the 17th century was one of the richest cities in Europe, thanks to its intense trade with the Americas. The artist worked mainly in the service of religious orders, but he also received commissions from private patrons and, for a time, from the Spanish court, producing pictorial cycles and altarpieces. He was also a fine observer of reality, as shown in his still lifes and private devotional works.
Enriched by an illustrated catalog and supported by recent research, the Zurbarán exhibition will present new discoveries, bring together works related to important commissions, and also devote attention to the artist’s son, Juan (1620-1649), whose brief but extraordinary output continues to emerge with new findings.
“We are excited to present the most comprehensive survey of Zurbarán’s work ever seen in Britain, bringing together exceptional loans from across the UK, Europe and the United States. This exhibition offers new insights into one of the great Baroque artists whose visionary paintings shaped our understanding of 17th-century Spain,” said Daniel Sobrino Ralston, associate curator of Spanish painting at the National Gallery’s CEEH (Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica).
“Zurbarán is an extraordinary artist whose work boldly asserts the power of painting, both then and now. We are thrilled to partner with the Art Institute of Chicago and the Louvre Museum to bring together his greatest paintings in this exceptional presentation of his vast career,” said Imogen Tedbury, curator of Italian, Spanish, and French paintings.
Pictured, Francisco de Zurbarán, Agnus Dei (1635-1640, oil on canvas, 37.3 x 62 cm; Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado) © Museo Nacional del Prado Photo Archive
 |
| At the National Gallery in London the first major monographic exhibition in the UK devoted to Francisco de Zurbarán |
Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.
