The Brilliance of the Spanish World: El Greco, Velázquez, Zurbarán

“The Brilliance of the Spanish World” showcases masterpieces from the Renaissance and Baroque, reflecting Spain’s artistic and cultural legacy.

Featuring works from the most significant collection of Hispanic art outside of Spain, The Brilliance of the Spanish World: El Greco, Velázquez, Zurbarán presents more than 50 paintings by renowned and influential Hispanic artists of the Renaissance and Baroque eras.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Spain established the first worldwide empire through exploration and colonial conquest, generating wealth that led to the flourishing of art and literature. This exhibition offers a glimpse into this era of artistic ambition and cultural complexity. The resulting artworks range from powerfully emotive paintings of saints and biblical scenes created in service of the Roman Catholic faith in Spain and its many colonies to starkly secular formal court portraits of influential, wealthy, and, in some cases, infamous figures.

Spanish artworks

• El Greco (Doménikos Theotokópoulos, 1541–1614: Holy Family, 1585.
• El Greco: Saint Jerome, ca. 1600.
• Fray Alonso López de Herrera (1580–after 1640): The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, 1640.
• Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682): The Prodigal Son Among the Swine, 1656–65.
• Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664): Saint Lucy, ca. 1630.
• Alonso Vázquez (1565–1608): Saint Sebastian, ca. 1603–07.
• Diego Velázquez (1599–1660): Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, ca. 1625–26.
• Diego Velázquez (1599–1660): Portrait of a Little Girl, ca. 1638–42.
• Luis de Morales (1510/11–1586): Christ Presented to the People (Ecce Homo), ca. 1565–70.