# The Young Virgin, in 17th-century Spain

Francisco de Zurbarán painted this in about 1632–33, aged about 34. It is now at The Met in New York.

Our note:

> The Virgin Mary, imagined as a young girl in the Temple, pauses from her needlework, lost in prayer, with her sewing at her side and lilies, a symbol of purity, nearby. Zurbarán and his contemporaries in Seville painted the subject for private devotion, drawing on legends of Mary’s childhood rather than the Gospels.

[Read the full label](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-young-virgin-met-437971#about-work)

## The work

- Date: ca. 1632–33
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 46 x 37 in. (116.8 x 94 cm)
- Type: Paintings
- Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 27.137
- Licence: CC0 1.0

## The artist

[Francisco de Zurbarán](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/francisco-de-zurbaran), Spanish, 1598–1664

Zurbarán worked chiefly in Seville, where religious orders commissioned him to paint cycles for their monasteries. His saints and monks, set against dark grounds and modelled with strong, sculptural light, combine austerity with close attention to the textures of cloth and wood.

4 works in the collection.

## Walk on

- [More by Francisco de Zurbarán](https://www.ochreeditions.com/galleries/artist/francisco-de-zurbaran?hang=749) (4 works)
- [More Spanish Golden Age](https://www.ochreeditions.com/galleries/style/spanish-golden-age?hang=749) (21 works)
- [The 17th century](https://www.ochreeditions.com/galleries/era/17?hang=749) (266 works)

## Get it

- [Print this work](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-young-virgin-met-437971#print)
- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1177.jpg?dl=1
- [The work's page](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-young-virgin-met-437971)