National Gallery to stage first major UK exhibition on Spanish 17th-century artist Francisco de Zurbarán
Francisco de Zurbarán, Hercules and the Cretan Bull, 1634. Oil on canvas, 133 x 152 cm. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid © Photographic Archive Museo Nacional del Prado.
LONDON.—
The first major monographic exhibition in the UK devoted to Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664), will open at the National Gallery next spring (2 May – 23 August 2026).
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Along with Diego Velázquez (1599–1660) and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682), Zurbarán was one of the leading painters of 17th-century Spain. His paintings, which include stunning life-size depictions of saints, soaring altarpieces and contemplative still lifes, are celebrated for their naturalism, directness and deep emotional power.
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This exhibition is the first dedicated presentation of the artist’s paintings at the National Gallery since 1994 when the series of 'Jacob and his Twelve Sons' from Auckland Castle was shown in the Sunley Room. Several works by Zurbarán also featured in The Sacred Made Real, an exhibition held in 2009–10.
This exhibition of almost 50 paintings will span the chronological and iconographic breadth of the artist’s career. It will unite exceptional works from the collection of the National Gallery (including Saint Margaret of Antioch, A Cup of Water and a Rose and Juan de Zurbarán's Still Life with Lemons in a Wicker Basket) with paintings from the Musée du Louvre ('Saint Bonaventure on His Bier' and 'Saint Apollonia') and the Art Institute of Chicago ('The Crucifixion', 'Saint Romanus of Antioch' and 'Saint Barulas' and Juan de Zurbarán’s 'Flowers and Fruit in a Chinese Bowl'), the two partner museums to which the exhibition will travel between October 2026 and June 2027.
Other major loans from France ('Saint Francis of Assisi', Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon), Spain ('Agnus Dei', Museo Nacional del Prado; 'Immaculate Conception', Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya) and the USA ('Christ and the Virgin in the House at Nazareth', Cleveland Museum of Art) will complete this comprehensive exploration of Zurbarán’s career, which seeks to evoke the mystery, vision and power of his art.
Zurbarán spent most of his life in Seville, then one of the richest cities in Europe, whose maritime links to the Americas made it a hub of global trade. He painted primarily for the city’s vast number of religious orders, but also for private patrons and even, for a time, for the King of Spain, producing altarpieces and cycles of paintings of staggering scale and ingenuity. He was also an acute observer of reality, and his still-life paintings and works for private devotion still appear strikingly vivid today.
Building on existing scholarship and accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, 'Zurbarán' will highlight new discoveries, reunite works from major commissions and bring together a selection of still lifes by Zurbarán and his short-lived son, Juan (1620–1649), whose small but superlative oeuvre continues to come to light.
Daniel Sobrino Ralston, the National Gallery’s CEEH (Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica) Associate Curator of Spanish Paintings, says ‘We are excited to present the most comprehensive survey of Zurbarán’s work ever seen in Britain, bringing together exceptional loans from across the UK, Europe and the United States. This exhibition offers new insights on one of the great artists of the Baroque era, whose visionary paintings have shaped our understanding of 17th-century Spain.’
Imogen Tedbury, Curator of Later Italian, Spanish and French Paintings (maternity cover), says ‘Zurbarán is an extraordinary artist, whose work stakes a bold claim for the power of painting, both then and now. We are thrilled to be collaborating with the Art Institute of Chicago and the Musee du Louvre to bring his greatest paintings together in this exceptional presentation of his expansive career.’
Exhibition organised by the National Gallery, London, the Musée du Louvre, Paris and the Art Institute of Chicago.
The exhibition is curated by Daniel Sobrino Ralston, Francesca Whitlum-Cooper and Imogen Tedbury, in collaboration with Charlotte Chastel-Rousseau (Musée du Louvre) and Rebecca Long (Art Institute of Chicago).
The Musée du Louvre exhibition of Zurbarán’s works will be on view from 7 October 2026 to 25 January 2027, and the exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago will take place from 28 February until 20 June 2027.
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