The Virgin of the Rosary
One of his earliest works, this painting depicts one of Murillo’s favorite themes, the Virgin and the Child. The virgin sits in a vibrant red dress on a deep blue shawl, holding the unclothed child, who stands on her lap. The two figures hold each other in a tender embrace, as only a mother and a child can do, which is a typical element of Murillo’s paintings. This tender touch is indicative of a realistic element that is present in all of Murillo’s paintings, almost as it is a snapshot of the two figures before they were completely posed, as if in a candid photograph.
