# Madonna Nursing the Christ Child

**Bartolomé Esteban Murillo** (Spanish, 1617–1682)  
c. 1670–72  
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  
Sheet: 21.4 x 15.4 cm (8 7/16 x 6 1/16 in.); Secondary Support: 24.1 x 18.5 cm (9 1/2 x 7 5/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1968.66. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1968.66).

## About this work

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.

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo drew this in about 1670–72, aged about 48. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

### How it was made

- **Chalk.** Natural black, red and white chalks. Used together on toned paper they could give the warmth of flesh with very little effort, and they were favourites for studies from life.
- **Pen and ink.** Drawn with a quill or reed pen, often with wash added by brush to model light and shadow.

### [Bartolomé Esteban Murillo](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/bartolome-esteban-murillo)

Spanish, 1617–1682; born in Seville; died in Seville

Murillo spent nearly all his life in Seville, where he became the city’s leading painter after Zurbarán. His tender religious scenes, especially his many Immaculate Conceptions, and his warm, softly lit pictures of street children made him one of the most popular Spanish painters in Europe in later centuries. In 1660 he helped found an academy of drawing in Seville. He died after a fall from scaffolding while painting an altarpiece in Cádiz.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Drawing
- Culture: Spain
- The artist was about 48
- Real size: about 8½ × 6 in (21 × 15 cm). The original is small: even the 8 × 10 in print shows it larger than life.
- Century: 17th century
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/671.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/671/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/madonna-nursing-the-christ-child-cma-144216).