Zurbarán's Supernatural Intensity at National Gallery London

The National Gallery in London presents a major exhibition of Francisco de Zurbarán, the 17th-century Spanish master known for painting supernatural things naturally and natural things supernaturally. The show opens with 'The Apparition of Saint Peter to Saint Peter Nolasco' (1629), lent by the Prado, depicting a monk receiving a vision of St Peter crucified upside down. Zurbarán's work dissolves spatial logic, melting distance and erasing the barrier between viewer and picture. The exhibition highlights his ecstatic visions, primitive surrealism, and remarkably painted loincloths. The Guardian's review emphasizes the supernatural intensity that hits contemporary viewers as hard as it did the original audience.