On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P00994
- Author
- Murillo, Bartolomé Esteban (Spanish)
- Title
- The Foundation of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome: 1. The Patrician`s Dream
- Chronology
- Ca. 1663
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 232 cm x 522 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- ADSCRIPCION
- Procedence
- Acquisition, 1901
This is one of a pair of paintings
representing the miraculous origin
of the founding of Santa Maria
Maggiore in Rome. They were
commissioned by the Chruch of Santa
María la Blanca in Seville when it
was remodeled after 1660 and were
conceived of as a program in praise
of Mary in keeping with the papal
bull of 1661 on the mystery of the
Immaculate Conception.
The Patrician's Dream shows the
apparition of the Virgin to John
and his wife while they sleep. Mary
calls on them to build a large
church dedicated to her on Mount
Esquilino, where the floor plan is
indicated by a miraculous
snowfall.
These two canvases are among the
most important of Murillos works,
both for their size and for the
ambitious composition and masterful
manner in which the pictorial
narration is resolved. They were
taken to France by Marshal Soult
for the Napoleonic Museum. In 1816
they were returned to Spain and
deposited at the Royal Academy of
San Fernando. From there, they
entered the Prado Museum.
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