Zurbaran

Zurbaran, FRANCISCO (1598-1662), Spanish painter, was born the son of a labourer in Estremadura, who perceived his talent and got him into a studio at Seville. There he spent most of his life, studious and laborious; his subjects are mostly of a religious nature, and he had a wonderful skill in such white draperies as those of the Carthusian monks. His masterpiece, an altarpiece with many noble figures, is in the museum at Seville, and in St Paul's Church there a famous Crucifixion is preserved. The London National Gallery has a fine kneeling Franciscan holding a skull.