Zurbarán's Mysterious Lamb: Louvre Exhibition Explores the Painter's Sacred and Naturalist Duality

Key facts

• Francisco de Zurbarán painted several versions of a lamb in the 1630s, including Agneau (1635-1640), oil on canvas, 37.3 x 62 cm, held at the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid.
• In the 18th century, an owner of one of these lamb paintings said he valued it more than a hundred live sheep.
• The Louvre exhibition 'Zurbarán. 1598-1664' runs from October 7 to January 25 at the Hall Napoléon, 75001 Paris.
• Zurbarán was born in Fuente de Cantos, Estremadura, in 1598, moved to Seville at age 15, and died in 1664.
• The 1649 plague in Seville killed 60,000 people, including Zurbarán's son Juan, also a painter.
• Zurbarán's first documented work is Christ en croix (1627), created for the Dominican convent of San Pablo Real.
• Art historian Guillaume Kientz, director of the Hispanic Society of New York, commented on baroque art's role in the Counter-Reformation.
• Théophile Gautier in 1837 described Zurbarán's saints as 'the most delicious and romantic creatures,' while historian Julián Gállego in 1998 wrote that being fruit, cup, or pot is almost as essential as being human.