Studio RT Ltd

Description

We are pleased to offer for sale this mid 19th Century pastel after Murillo. The pastel is a copy of the painting by Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Seville 1617-1682 ~Seville. of the Infant Saint John with the Lamb, purchased by the National Gallery in 1840, where its description is:

Saint John the Baptist stands in a rocky landscape, a reference to the wilderness in which he lived as a young man, dressed in a camel-hair tunic and eating only locusts and honey.

He embraces a lamb, a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice, and points towards heaven. According to the Gospel, when Saint John met Christ he declared: ‘Behold, the Lamb of God’. These words are inscribed in Latin on a ribbon wound around a reed cross, one of Saint John’s attributes (a symbolic object associated with him).

The lamb is also a symbol of Christ as the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for his sheep – as Christ is believed to have done for humanity’s salvation.
There is also a large oil copy of this painting at Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk, acquired by the National Trust in 1969 as part of the collection bequeathed to them by the previous owner. The original or the copy in Norfolk would have to have been seen in the flesh in colour, in order to do this very good copy.

On the back of the canvas, the pastel has been executed on paper laid on very fine canvas, there is a very old label which states:
Copy Murilla
Saint John
Mrs. John Hurtnole

We do not know whether Mrs. Hurtnole was the pastellist, or merely one of the prevous owners of the pastel. The signature appears to say Huntole, but the only name very similar to this as a British surname is Hurtnole. There is no further information that we can glean.

The pastel is glazed and is framed in a 2 inch soft mottled gilt frame to suit. It will be supplied with new brass hangers, new brass picture wire and will be ready to hang.

Image size: 17 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches - 44.5cm x 31.75cm

Frame size: 21 3/4 c 16 3/4 inches - 55.25cm x 42.55cm

Medium: Pastels on paper laid to fine canvas

Condition: Very good. The frame is new.