Zurbarán Restored: Louvre Exhibition Reveals Lost Colors of Bonaventure Cycle

Key facts

• Two Zurbarán paintings entered restoration at the C2RMF in 2020 on the initiative of Louvre chief curator Charlotte Chastel-Rousseau
• The Bonaventure cycle was commissioned in 1627 for the church of the San Buenaventura college in Seville and comprises eight canvases
• Saint Bonaventure au concile de Lyon and L'Exposition du corps de saint Bonaventure date from around 1629 and were painted on linen damask
• Luc Hurter and Jean-Pascal Viala handled re-lining and transfer; Regina da Costa Pinto Dias Moreira cleaned the paint layers
• A wax seal with the arms of Maréchal Soult is on the stretcher of Le Concile; his heirs sold both paintings to the State in 1858
• Radiography revealed changes in gesture and dress, including a smaller, lower mitre in L'Exposition
• Cleaning showed Greek Church figures in Le Concile wear blue and mauve rather than grey or black
• The exhibition 'Zurbarán 1598-1664' at the Musée du Louvre runs until 25 January 2027 with 65 works, 50 by the artist