Workshop of BARTOLOMÉ ESTEBAN MURILLO, 17th century. "Ecce Homo". Oil on canvas. Re-enteled. It presents restorations. Measurements: 50 x 60 cm; 88 x 68 cm (frame). The work gives off an emotional devotional tension clarified by the darkness of the scene, the expressiveness of the red mantle and the definition of Christ's anatomy. The face, perfectly modelled, stands out for the play of volumes and the truthfulness of the features. They show a concentrated Jes, with lowered eyelids and a serio face, aware of his destiny. Only the rod in his hands breaks the viewer's concentration on Christ's body, but its presence is barely perceptible as it blends into the darkness of the background. The quality of this religio portrait suggests that it was produced by Murillo's workshop, as the work has similarities with pieces on the same theme attributed to the master, such as the painting in the Meum of Cadiz, where, despite the differences, theposition and the conception of the figure of Jes are very similar. The theme of Ecce Homo belongs to the Passion cycle and immediately precedes the episode of the Crucifixion. Following this iconography, Jes is presented at the moment when the soldiers mock him, after crowning him with thorns, dressing him in a purple robe and placing a reed in his hand, kneeling down and exclaiming "Hail, King of the Jews". The words "Ecce Homo" are those pronounced by Pilate when presenting Christ to the crowd; their translation is "behold the man", a phrase by which he mocks Jes and implies that Christ's power was not such inparison with that of the rulers who were judging him. Little is known of Murillo's childhood and youth, except that he lost his father in 1627 and his mother in 1628, for which reason he was taken into the care of his brother-in-law. Around 1635 he mt have begun his apprentice as a painter, most likely with Juan del Castillo, who was married to a coin of his. This working and artistic relation lasted about six years, as was ctomary at the time. After his marriage in 1645 he embarked on what was to be a brilliant career that gradually made him the most famo and sought-after painter in Seville. The only trip he is known to have made is documented in 1658, when Murillo was in Madrid for several months. It is conceivable that while at court he kept in touch with the painters who lived there, such as Velázquez, Zurbarán and Cano, and that he had access to the collection of paintings in the Royal Palace, a magnificent subject of study for all the artists who passed through the court. Despite the few documentary references to his mature years, we know that he enjoyed afortable life, which enabled him to maintain a high standard of living and have several apprentices. Having be the city's leading painter, even surpassing Zurbarán in fame, he was determined to raise the artistic level of local painting. In 1660 he decided, together with Francisco Herrera el Mozo, to found