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The Prado Museum is hosting an exhibition from 25 April to 30 July devoted to Francisco de Herrera “the Younger”, one of the most unique and innovative artists of the Spanish Baroque. This exhibition features his works, which have almost all been restored by the Prado Museum in an unprecedented project that aims to draw attention to his fundamental period in Italy and illustrates the influence of his training in Seville.

In spite of being considered one of the most unique artists of the Spanish Baroque and his importance during his lifetime, Francisco de Herrera “the Younger”  remains an under-appreciated and in many respects unknown painter.

This exhibition aims to highlight his decisive stay in Italy where his training as a drawer and a painter of fish still-lifes stands out, as well as his relationships with influential patrons related to the San Lucas Academy and the Virtuosi al Pantheon Academy, which reveal his artistic aims and ambitions.

The exhibition also aims to illustrate the influence of his years of printmaking training in Seville with his father, Francisco de Herrera, the Elder, and his relationship with Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, comparing their different ways of understanding painting and highlighting the envy Herrera aroused among his contemporaries as an individual who stood out for his talents and unique and forceful personality.

The exhibition will also highlight his role as one of the most prolific and versatile drawers in the Spanish Golden Age, who defended the idea of absolute artist, designer of pictorial creations on canvas, fresco, altarpieces, architecture, theatre stage designs or tapestries and head of funeral ceremonies.

Image Credit:

Image of The Triumph of Saint Hermenegild, by Francisco de Herrera the Younger, Prado National Museum