Fabric Among My Linings

The light, the sobriety, the convincing shape, the composition of the figures, the proportion of the objects, the superior quality of the drawing, the calmness of the faces, the restrained spirituality, the realisation of the images: the fabrics, above all, the fabrics. The fabrics, with Zurbarán, become live and they transport you, from the creation of a XVII century painting to the expressive richness of the textures: to the enjoyment that a crease is capable of expressing through the perfection of light and shape.

Madrid can congratulate itself: the Thyssen Museum is showing, until next September, the exposition “Zurbarán, a new look”. Forty seven paintings, some never exhibited before and others that have never visited Spain, are shown as a not only visual experience, but also sentimental.

Nothing can be added to Francisco de Zurbarán’s life work, but one can enjoy the luxury of being able to enjoy this exhibit, letting oneself be guided by the visual touch in the monks white habits, in the stoat capes of the Three Wise Men, in the accuracy of the strokes of the Saints. The exhibit is completed with a series of still-life paintings, works of his son -Juan de Zurbarán and of some of the disciples of his school.

For me, once again, Zurbarán is the fabrics, his fabrics, the ones that reach inside me, the ones taken in with my pupils towards my innards, and those which lighten up the museum halls. A good moment to disconnect, to see the fabrics without touching them, take in any fold and enjoy. (Photographs: Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum).