'Virgin and Child in Glory', Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, 1673

Oil on canvas, 236 x 169cm

Accession Number WAG1351

Murillo was the most important religious artist in Spain at the time this work was painted.

The altarpiece was commissioned by Ambrosio Ignacio Spnola y Guzmn, Archbishop of Seville (1670 - 84) for his private chapel in his Seville palace.

During the Spanish Peninsular War (1808 - 14) the palace was the headquarters of the French marshal Soult, who took the altarpiece with him as war booty. However, he did not have the central area of the canvas showing the faces of the Virgin and Child. The two separated parts were not reunited until they were acquired by the British collector Lord Overstone.

Purchased with the help of the Art Fund.