Submitted by Maxwell Poruban the 2024 Spring program in Granada, Spain…
Art, or at least baroque art, has always been a way for the well-endowed and well placed members of a society to demonstrate their power and prowess. This is exactly the case in a series of paintings by Francisco de Zurburán that I had the privilege of visiting with my program in Seville. Zurburán, and his studio based in Seville, was a master of color and light; in person his works are quite extraordinary. I am not much of an art buff; I don’t know much about eras or artists or what they mean. That said I do enjoy going to see art and attempting to learn more about it. The Museum of Fine Art in Seville houses Spain’s best collection of painting after the Golden Triangle of art in Madrid, consisting of the Prado, Reina Sofia and the Thyssen-Bornemisza. It also houses the Santas collection of Zurburán which demonstrates some of his best work and the catholic nature of Spain during the period. What I found most interesting about this series of paintings is the story behind their commissions and the models who posed for the painting. While each painting represents a martyred catholic saint, the women who posed as the models were the wealthy aristocrats who commissioned the painting. According to the resident fine art expert of the Granada Institute of International Studies this style of portrait painting was all the rage and was seen as a huge status symbol in the 17th century. Art will never be my strong suit, but this experience exemplified the social importance that art has and has had in human life. (Submitted on May 16,2024)