Convento De La Merced Calzada Analysis

The first item to talk about is Convento de la Merced Calzada or as it is known today as Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla (Fine Arts Museum of Sevilla). The building that the fine arts museum is located in is due to the initiative thinking of Fray Alonso de Monroy who was the general of the Order during the beginning of the 17th Century (FAMus). The Convento de la Merced Calzada would be constructed after they had to demolish a Mudejar building. The architect and sculptor of this building was Juan de Oviedo y de la Bandera. In this building, Juan de Oviedo really tried to make Sevilla stand out and make the building have a very late renaissance feel to it. The building had very high arches with tuscan columns in the courtyard. It had

Murillo was also a Baroque painter and was considered one of the best of his time. In his early work he focused on light without changing the contrast too much. In 1640’s he changed his style to included subtle light changes while using transparent colors (arthistoria). The 1670s, when this painting was created, was considered Murillo's most creative time in his painting career (arthistoria).His paintings were described as the "vaporous style” because the brushwork was feathery, the pigment thin and the coloration cool and light like in Saint Thomas of Villanueva Giving Alms to the poor (nortonsimon). Depicted in this painting is St. Thomas de Villanueva who was known for his many acts of charity. This painting was commissioned by the monastery of Saint Augustine in Seville an altarpiece illustrating scenes from the life of the saint and the charitable work that he did (nortonsimon). Murillo wants you to focus on Saint Thomas who is in the center of the painting giving money to the poor. He also wants the viewer to see the poor people who range from little children to older women. Murillo shows them in dirty or worn down clothes. Even though it is a reproduction of an event that happened in the 1500’s, Murillo could have been portraying that the times are still the same. It is possible he is trying to tell the viewer that there is still an

El Greco is considered the father of mannerism and also one of the greatest painters of his generation, if not of all time. Originally, this painting was thought to be a self portrait of El Greco himself. It turns out to be one of the only paintings El Greco did of his son, Jorge Manuel. Jorge Manuel was a sculptor, architect and above all a painter like his father (FAMus). The only reason people thought this was a self portrait of El Greco at first was because El Greco’s son was not even close to being as good of a painter as he was. According to the “Fine Arts Museum of Sevilla,” this portrait has some greatest expressive vivacity and elegant sobriety of those produced by El Greco. This self-portrait of Jose Manuel shows how great of a painter El Greco was. He used a very fluid technique in this portrait, especially since it is of his own son (FAMus). This fluid technique of El Greco is a little odd. According to “biography.com” El Greco’s later works are marked by exaggerated, and often distorted, figures, stretching beyond the realities of the human body which is what modern viewers generally have found so appealing. If this is true, El Greco changed his painting style just for the portrait of his son, then changed back to his abnormal style of painting. As previously noted, depicted in this photo is Jose Manuel. Jose Manuel is holding paint brushes because El Greco is trying