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Lot Essay
There was a huge demand for representations of Christ on the cross throughout the 17th century in Seville. This imagery was highly familiar in both public and private spheres: every parochial church, monastery and convent had crucifixions, and nearly every home had one, in a private chapel or bedroom. These objects of personal devotion were especially important during the second half of the century, when Seville fell into an economic decline, exacerbated by natural disasters and outbreaks of plague, which also coincided with the expansion and strengthening of Counter-Reformation Catholicism.
It is in this context that, between 1660 and 1670, Murillo and his workshop produced a number of small- and large-scale crucifixions. Valdivieso dates this Crucifixion to circa 1670 and compares it with two contemporaneous crucifixions by the artist (Paris, Duke de Luynes collection; and London, Brennan collection; op. cit., 2010, nos. 260 and 262). While it is unclear who commissioned this work, it was almost certainly designed for private devotion. By 1742, when it is first mentioned in an inventory of Jerónimo Ortiz de Sandoval y Ortiz de Sandoval, its explicit purpose is 'devosion [sic]'.
It is in this context that, between 1660 and 1670, Murillo and his workshop produced a number of small- and large-scale crucifixions. Valdivieso dates this Crucifixion to circa 1670 and compares it with two contemporaneous crucifixions by the artist (Paris, Duke de Luynes collection; and London, Brennan collection; op. cit., 2010, nos. 260 and 262). While it is unclear who commissioned this work, it was almost certainly designed for private devotion. By 1742, when it is first mentioned in an inventory of Jerónimo Ortiz de Sandoval y Ortiz de Sandoval, its explicit purpose is 'devosion [sic]'.