Floor plan

Style galleriesThe Spanish Golden Age

The Spanish Golden Age

A work made of oil on canvas.
The image depicts a woman seated with a child in her lap. The woman looks down at the child, who has curly hair. Both figures are intricately drawn in a detailed line drawing style. The woman wears a headdress and flowing garment, holding a cross-topped staff. The child clutches her arm. Surrounding them are cloud-like forms and cherubic figures with wings, some holding rosary beads. In the background, more clouds and angelic faces are sketched.
Still life painting of dead waterfowl and vegetables in windowsill.
A work made of oil on canvas.
Christ Carrying the Cross, by El Greco, ca. 1577–87
A light-skinned man wearing a voluminous, ocean-blue, hooded robe sits at a cloth-draped writing table and looks up, fingers splayed over an open book and a pen held in his other hand, in this vertical painting. The man and desk take up most of the composition, which has an arched top. The man’s shoulders and body are angled to our right, and he looks off in that direction in profile. His balding head is rimmed with white hair curving over the large ear we can see, and he has a trimmed white and gray beard and mustache. His prominent nose is pointed, and his lips are closed. Light glints off the robe he wears so it shimmers in shades of topaz, aquamarine, and midnight blue. Voluminous white sleeves emerge under the mantle and are edged with narrow lace cuffs. His left hand, to our right, rests on an open book, which is propped against one or two other tomes. Near the edge of the table, two quills stand in the corners of a lidded inkwell, and a round, silver blotter, shaped like an upside-down chalice, and a lidded silver box sit nearby. The man’s chair has a tall post next to his shoulder to our left with a teardrop-shaped, gold finial. A second post, near his wrist, is lower and topped with a gold orb. The chair is draped in the same deep, raspberry-pink of the square table at which he sits. The tablecloth is edged with a wide band of gold along the bottom, and filigree-like gold decorations line the seams or folds at the corners. Brushstrokes are visible in many areas, especially in the colorfully charged blue and pink fabric. Beyond the man, to our right, a statuette of a person wearing a long, white robe over a white dress holds a baby. The clothing is edged with gold, and she wears a sphere-like gold crown. The baby also wears white and holds up one hand. The statuette stands on a platform supported by S-shaped corbels, and could have a projecting, squared awning over the top. This area is more loosely painted so some details are difficult to make out. In the background to our left, a wooden door stands open next to a dark space just behind the man’s head, so his profile is picked out against the shadow. The floor beneath is earth brown.

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

Painting in Spain from El Greco to Murillo, devout and intensely real.

Section 1, north wall

  1. A work made of oil on canvas.
    JobSpanish, c. 1618–c. 1630Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. The image depicts a woman seated with a child in her lap. The woman looks down at the child, who has curly hair. Both figures are intricately drawn in a detailed line drawing style. The woman wears a headdress and flowing garment, holding a cross-topped staff. The child clutches her arm. Surrounding them are cloud-like forms and cherubic figures with wings, some holding rosary beads. In the background, more clouds and angelic faces are sketched.
    The Madonna of the RosaryVicente Salvador Gómez, 1674Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. Still life painting of dead waterfowl and vegetables in windowsill.
    Still Life with Game FowlJuan Sánchez Cotán, c. 1600–3Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 1, south wall

  1. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Ecce Agnus DeiBartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1655Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Christ Carrying the Cross, by El Greco, ca. 1577–87
    Christ Carrying the CrossEl Greco, ca. 1577–87Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. A light-skinned man wearing a voluminous, ocean-blue, hooded robe sits at a cloth-draped writing table and looks up, fingers splayed over an open book and a pen held in his other hand, in this vertical painting. The man and desk take up most of the composition, which has an arched top. The man’s shoulders and body are angled to our right, and he looks off in that direction in profile. His balding head is rimmed with white hair curving over the large ear we can see, and he has a trimmed white and gray beard and mustache. His prominent nose is pointed, and his lips are closed. Light glints off the robe he wears so it shimmers in shades of topaz, aquamarine, and midnight blue. Voluminous white sleeves emerge under the mantle and are edged with narrow lace cuffs. His left hand, to our right, rests on an open book, which is propped against one or two other tomes. Near the edge of the table, two quills stand in the corners of a lidded inkwell, and a round, silver blotter, shaped like an upside-down chalice, and a lidded silver box sit nearby. The man’s chair has a tall post next to his shoulder to our left with a teardrop-shaped, gold finial. A second post, near his wrist, is lower and topped with a gold orb. The chair is draped in the same deep, raspberry-pink of the square table at which he sits. The tablecloth is edged with a wide band of gold along the bottom, and filigree-like gold decorations line the seams or folds at the corners. Brushstrokes are visible in many areas, especially in the colorfully charged blue and pink fabric. Beyond the man, to our right, a statuette of a person wearing a long, white robe over a white dress holds a baby. The clothing is edged with gold, and she wears a sphere-like gold crown. The baby also wears white and holds up one hand. The statuette stands on a platform supported by S-shaped corbels, and could have a projecting, squared awning over the top. This area is more loosely painted so some details are difficult to make out. In the background to our left, a wooden door stands open next to a dark space just behind the man’s head, so his profile is picked out against the shadow. The floor beneath is earth brown.
    Saint IldefonsoEl Greco, c. 1603/1614Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Section 2, south wall

  1. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Saint Romanus of Antioch and Saint BarulasFrancisco de Zurbarán, 1638Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Madonna Nursing the Christ Child, by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1670–72
    Madonna Nursing the Christ ChildBartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1670–72Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. View of Toledo, by El Greco, ca. 1599–1600
    View of ToledoEl Greco, ca. 1599–1600Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 2, north wall

  1. The Young Virgin, by Francisco de Zurbarán, ca. 1632–33
    The Young VirginFrancisco de Zurbarán, ca. 1632–33Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. A work made of oil on canvas.
    The CrucifixionFrancisco de Zurbarán, 1627Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. Virgin and Child, by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, 1670s
    Virgin and ChildBartolomé Esteban Murillo, 1670sCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 3, north wall

  1. Saint Jerome as Scholar, by El Greco, ca. 1610
    Saint Jerome as ScholarEl Greco, ca. 1610Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Portrait of the Jester Calabazas, by Diego Velázquez, c. 1631–32
    Portrait of the Jester CalabazasDiego Velázquez, c. 1631–32Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Section 3, south wall

  1. The Holy Family with Mary Magdalen, by El Greco, c. 1590–95
    The Holy Family with Mary MagdalenEl Greco, c. 1590–95Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. Cardinal Fernando Niño de Guevara (1541–1609), by El Greco, ca. 1600
    Cardinal Fernando Niño de Guevara (1541–1609)El Greco, ca. 1600Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art