Overview
- The National Gallery is set to open a wide‑ranging Francisco de Zurbarán retrospective that brings nearly 50 paintings into one show in the Sainsbury Wing.
- Key loans come from the Prado, the Louvre, private lenders and the Norton Simon Foundation, which sends the signed Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose.
- Anchor works include The Crucifixion (1627) and The Apparition of Saint Peter to Saint Peter Nolasco (1629), central examples of Zurbarán’s devotional art.
- A recently attributed painting, Colossal Head, appears beside signed canvases to invite side‑by‑side comparison and fresh scholarly assessment.
- The display highlights Zurbarán’s carved, three‑dimensional figures and bold darkness‑to‑light effects, rooted in his early work with sculptors and the Catholic Church’s call after the Council of Trent for clear, vivid images.