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A Carmelite Friar Oil on canvas, 201.3 x 120.6 cm, Flemish School, 1639 Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Teesdale, Durham |
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Previously attributed to
Francisco de Zurbarán, this Carmelite friar in his brown habit and
voluminous white mantle, stands with his gaze turned outward with a
quiet air of reflection. He holds a small book in one hand, while
the other rests upon a skull placed on a draped table, symbols of
study, prayer, and the remembrance of death. The sombre background,
enlivened by subtle light on the friar’s face and garments, lends
the work a meditative stillness characteristic of
seventeenth-century devotional painting. |
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