Lot Essay
The present picture formed part of a set of eight Scenes from the Life of the Virgin of similar size painted for the Convent of La Trinidad in Seville, where they were recorded in 1786 by Ponz, who considered them the work of three different artists: 'Para ver á qué grado llegaron algunos discípulos de Murillo, conviene entrar en el claustro de Trinitarios Descalzos, en cuyos ángulos hay pinturas de Simon Gutierrez, y Esteban Marquez. Las del Christo muerto, y los Desposorios de nuestra Señora se tienen por del Mulato. Es muy bella nuestra Señora con los Redentores á los pies. Hay
diez y nueve retrats al rededor de este claustro hechos por los de la misma escuela. Algunas de estas pinturas se conoce estar retocadas por Murillo' (A. Ponz, Viage de España, IX, Madrid, 1786, III, pp.105-6, paragraph 46). The Conde del Aguila, who was one of Ponz's sources of information, believed, however, that all were the work of Esteban Marquez and furthermore that in The Marriage of the Virgin the artist had portrayed his own daughter as the Virgin (see J. M. Carriazo, Correspondencia de D. Antonio Ponz con el Conde del Aguila, Archivo Español de Arte y Arqueología, 1929, p.109). The set was sold as the French army of occupation approached Seville and was brought to London, where it was split up at Christie's in June 1810, the pictures being described as 'eight grand chef d'oeuvres of Murillo'. Apart from the present picture, the whereabouts of three others is currently known, The Birth of the Virgin, and The Virgin with San Juan de Mata being in private collections in Mexico and England respectively and The Marriage of the Virgin being in the North Carolina Museum of Art at Raleigh (W. R. Valentiner, North Carolina Museum of Art, Catalogue of Paintings, Raleigh, 1956, p.85, no.212, illustrated, as Murillo; J. A. Goya Nuño, L'opera completa di Murillo, Milan, 1978, no.368, illustrated, under 'Altre opere attribuite a Murillo'; Valdivieso, op. cit., p.247, colour pl.202).
Professors Angulo and Valdivieso both follow the Conde del Aguila in considering all these the work of Esteban Márquez, one of the leading followers of Murillo in Seville in the latter part of the seventeenth century
diez y nueve retrats al rededor de este claustro hechos por los de la misma escuela. Algunas de estas pinturas se conoce estar retocadas por Murillo' (A. Ponz, Viage de España, IX, Madrid, 1786, III, pp.105-6, paragraph 46). The Conde del Aguila, who was one of Ponz's sources of information, believed, however, that all were the work of Esteban Marquez and furthermore that in The Marriage of the Virgin the artist had portrayed his own daughter as the Virgin (see J. M. Carriazo, Correspondencia de D. Antonio Ponz con el Conde del Aguila, Archivo Español de Arte y Arqueología, 1929, p.109). The set was sold as the French army of occupation approached Seville and was brought to London, where it was split up at Christie's in June 1810, the pictures being described as 'eight grand chef d'oeuvres of Murillo'. Apart from the present picture, the whereabouts of three others is currently known, The Birth of the Virgin, and The Virgin with San Juan de Mata being in private collections in Mexico and England respectively and The Marriage of the Virgin being in the North Carolina Museum of Art at Raleigh (W. R. Valentiner, North Carolina Museum of Art, Catalogue of Paintings, Raleigh, 1956, p.85, no.212, illustrated, as Murillo; J. A. Goya Nuño, L'opera completa di Murillo, Milan, 1978, no.368, illustrated, under 'Altre opere attribuite a Murillo'; Valdivieso, op. cit., p.247, colour pl.202).
Professors Angulo and Valdivieso both follow the Conde del Aguila in considering all these the work of Esteban Márquez, one of the leading followers of Murillo in Seville in the latter part of the seventeenth century