NARRATOR:
Although painted with meticulous naturalism, there is something unique and mysterious about this group of commonplace objects. Silhouetted against the darkness by a brilliant, almost unearthly light, the motifs seem suspended before us like objects of meditation. Placed with infinite care, they lead our eyes rhythmically from left to right: the tip of one lemon points up to the flowering sprig that crowns the beautifully delineated basket of oranges. Blossoms and leaves guide us across to the pewter plate with its white cup and single rose.
This remarkable painting by the 17th-century Spanish artist Francisco de Zurburán is his only signed and dated still life. It may actually be intended as a mystical evocation of the Virgin Mary. Oranges and orange blossoms symbolize her purity and chastity. The cup of water and smooth-stemmed rose also allude to her purity and love. The Virgin was often referred to as a “rose without thorns.” The cup, filled with water, symbolizes her role as the pure and sinless vessel worthy to bear the son of God.
This symbolism would have been understood instantly in the monastic communities that usually commissioned Zurburán’s works. The painting’s greatness lies, however, in the artist’s ability to endow these humble objects with an aura of profound spirituality.
Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose
1633
Francisco de Zurbarán (Spanish, 1598-1664)
On View
This extraordinary painting by Zurbarán, the only signed and dated still life by this great master of the school of Seville, has been widely admired as a masterpiece of the genre. To devout Spanish Catholics in the 17th century, the apparently humble objects portrayed here contained significant religious meaning. The measured placement of the three motifs, for example, would have been instantly understood as an allusion to the Holy Trinity. The painting has also been interpreted as an homage to the Virgin, with the oranges, their blossoms, and the cup of water symbolizing her purity, and the thornless rose referring to her Immaculate Conception.
Zurbarán depicted the physical character of the objects, and the space they inhabit, with unparalleled focus and skill. By modeling the rough-skinned yellow citrons with hints of green and russet, he suggests the fruit’s protuberance and weight. The arrangement of the orange leaves creates a rhythm of light and shadow, echoed again in the reflective surfaces of the pewter plates. Presented as a quiet, meditative piece within a shallow, minimally described space, this still life evokes a mystical intensity that transcends time in its appeal.
A recent cleaning has removed opaque layers of varnish and discolored retouches, revealing once again the clearly defined edges of the table, the four decorative inlays at each corner, and Zurbarán’s characteristic skill in describing the rough, textural skin of the citrus fruit. The welcome balance between the dark, atmospheric background, the warm tones of the fruit and basket, and the cooler tones of the silver plate and ceramic cup have been restored.
Click here to watch a video about the 2008 restoration of this painting.
Details
- Artist Name: Francisco de Zurbarán (Spanish, 1598-1664)
- Title: Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose
- Date: 1633
- Culture: Spanish
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 24 1/2 x 43 1/8 in. (62.2 x 109.5 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1972.06.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
Alexandre Antoine Ernest Journault (1836-1924), widower of Mme. Louise Henriette Aline Ferris Journault, nee Aline Kraft (d. 9 July 1921) (sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 26 May 1922, lot 18, as Plat de cédrats, corbeille d’oranges, fleur et gobelet sur une table), sold for 2600 frs. to;
Legrand.
Count Alessandro Contini-Bonacossi, Florence, by 1930, by descent to;
Heirs of the Contini-Bonacossi Estate, Florence, to;
The Norton Simon Foundation.
Legrand.
Count Alessandro Contini-Bonacossi, Florence, by 1930, by descent to;
Heirs of the Contini-Bonacossi Estate, Florence, to;
The Norton Simon Foundation.
Gli Antichi Pittori Spagnoli della Collezione Contini Bonacossi
- Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte, 1930 to
La Nature morte de l'antiquité à nos jours
- Paris, Orangerie des Tuileries, 1952-04 to 1952-06
Zurbaran
- Granada, 1953-06 to
Masterpieces of European Painting from the Norton Simon Museum
- The Frick Collection, 2009-02-10 to 2009-05-10
Reinstallation of Galleries: Art History of the 17th and 18th Century Gains Fresh Dimension
- Norton Simon Museum, 1993-09-02 to 1995-08-13
Significant Objects: The Spell of Still Life
- Norton Simon Museum, 2012-07-20 to 2013-01-21
Mayer, August L., The Burlington Magazine, pp. 54, 55
Mayer, August L., Apollo, p. 7
Soria, Martin S., Gazette des Beaux-Arts, pp. 45-46
Catturla, Maria Luisa, The Burlington Magazine, p. 303
Seckel, Helmut P. G., Gazette des Beaux-Arts, fig. 2 pp. 281-286
Seckel, Helmut P. G., Gazette des Beaux-Arts, p. 61
Gaya Nuno, J., La pintura española fuera de España, no. 3010 pp. 338-339
Gendel, M., Art News, p. 23
San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle,
Seldis, Henry, Los Angeles Times, pp. 50, 52
Gudiol, J., Los Angeles Times, pp. 50, 52
The Connoisseur, p. 307
Young, E., The Burlington Magazine, pp. 207-208
Nicolson, B., The Burlington Magazine, p. 536
Brommer, Gerald, Discovering Art History, pp. 18-23
Young, E., Apollo, pp. 435, 437
Wilson, W., Los Angeles Times, pp. 101-102
Baticle, J., Connaissance des Arts, pp. 30-43
Taggard, M., Pantheon, pp. 76-80
Brown, J., Francisco de Zurbaran, pl. 16
Caturla, M. L.; and O. Delenda, Francisco de Zurbaran, n. 96, 97 pp. 110-101, 108, 248
Museo Nacional d'Art, Catalon, Zurbaran, p. 32
Young, Eric, The Connoisseur, p. 176-185
Bettina Friedl, Creating Order: Arranging Objects into Meaning in Raphaelle Peale's Still Lifes,
Amorós, J., Boletin Sociedad Espanola de Excursiones, pp. 133-142
Longhi, Roberto; and August L. Meyer, Gli Antichi Pittori Spagnoli della collezione Contini Bonacossi, no. 65, pl. LXIV
Guinard, P.; and J. Baticle, Histoire de la peinture espagnole, p. 167
Soria, Martin S., The Paintings of Zurbaran, no. 71, fig. 47 pp. 14, 149-150
Sterling, Charles, Still Life Painting from Antiquity to the Present Time, pp. 49, 71-72
Kubler, George and Martin Soria, Art and Architecture of Spain and Portugal, 1500-1800, p. 246
Guinard, P., Zurbaran et les peintres espagnols de la vie monastique, no. 594 p. 280
Levey, Michael, A Concise History of Painting from Giotto to Cézanne, p. 193
Torres Martin, R., La Naturaleza Muerta en la Pintura Espagnola, pp. 69-72, 125
Held, Julius; and Donald Posner, 17th and 18th Century Art: Baroque Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, p. 178
Dominique, F., Jardin des Arts, p. 44
Frati, T.; and M. Gregori, L'opera completa di Zurbaran, no. 101
Frankenstein, A., San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle,
Artscanada, p. 44
Laclotte, M.; and A. Perez Sanchez, Le larousse de grands peintres, pp. 439-440
Trafalgar Galleries, In Light of Caravaggio, pp. 29, 34
Royal Academy of Arts, The Golden Age of Painting, no. 39
DeWeese-Wehen, J., Antique Monthly, p. 20C
Cohen, A.; R. Cohen, E. Young and E. Cohen, Trafalgar Galleries at the Royal Academy II, pp. 64-66
Moore, J., The Eastern Gate: An Invitation to the Arts of China and Japan, pp. 191-193
Armstrong, R., Portfolio, p. 99
Mullins, E., Great Paintings, pp. 18-23
Ades, Dawn, Dali, no. 23 pp. 33, 210
Kass, K., Morris Graves, Vision of the Inner Eye, p. 74
Alpers, Svetlana, The Art of Describing: Dutch Art in the Seventeenth Century, p. 91
Perez Sanchez, A., Pintura Española de Bodegones y Floreros de 1600 a Goya, pp. 75-76
Janés, C., Los Genios de la Pintura Española: Zurbaran, pp. 8, 52, 93
Brown, H., American Artist Magazine, p. 38
Sullivan, E., Catalogue of Spanish Paintings: North Carolina Museum of Art, p. 92
Ritschard, C., Pietro Sarto, perspectives empiriques, p. 127
Bazin, G., Les fleurs vues par les peintres, pp. 87-88
Burda, H., Pan, pp. 7-21
Perez Sanchez, A., La nature morte espagnole du XVIIe siècle à Goya, p. 93
De' Giorgio, Elsa, L'eredità Contini Bonacossi: L'ambiguo rigore del vero, fig. 40 pp. 311, 348
Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, pp. 46-47
Bryson, Norman, Critical Inquiry, p. 239
Bryson, Norman, Looking at the Overlooked: Four Essays on Still Life Painting, pp. 72-74
Mallory, N., El Greco to Murillo, pp. 118-119
Brown, Jonathan, The Golden Age of Painting in Spain, p. 99
Brown, Jonathan, Francisco de Zurbaran, pp. 98-99
Jordan, W. B. and P. Cherry, An Eye on Nature: Spanish Still Life from Velasquez to Goya, fig. 12.1 pp. 93-95, 101
The National Gallery Report April 1996-March 1997, pp. 20-21
Gallego, J. and J. Gudiol, Zurbaran, no. 83 pp. 34, 49, 56, 82
Museo de Bellas Artes, El Bodegón Español [de Zurbarán a Picasso], pp. 37-39
Friedl, Bettina, Negotiations of America's National Identity, fig. 1 pp. 56, 73, 75
Gröschel, Claudia, Oranien-Orangen-Oranienbaum, fig. 13 p. 145
Keck, Ray M., Love's Dialectic: Mimesis and Allegory in the Romances of Lope de Vega,
Madoff, Steven Henry; and David Mamet, Donald Sultan: In the Still-Life Tradition, fig. 2 p. 12
Minor, Vernon Hyde, Baroque & Rococo: Art & Culture, fig. 6.27 p. 247
Ebert-Schifferer, Sybille, Still Life: A History, Fig. 132 p. 183
Aronson, Steven M., Architectural Digest reprint, pp. 56-58
Lyons, Lisa, Departures: 11 Artists at the Getty, p. 10
Morphet, Richard, Encounters: New Art from Old, fig. 7 pp. 80, 86-87
IVAM Centre Julio González, Filippo de Pisis, pp. 18, 180
Nature Morte, p. 65, jacket
Understanding Paintings: Themes in Art Explored and Explained, p. 230; jacket cover (detail)
Heilmeyer, Marina, The Language of Flowers: Symbols and Myths, pp. 89, 93
Fernando Montes de Oca, L'age d'or du verve en France (The Golden Age of Glass in France), fig. 34 p. 32
Wieke Schrover, et al., M e M o, p. 74
Nationalmuseum, Spanish Masters and their Followers, fig. 4 p. 76
Campbell, Katie, Marmalade Season, Cover
Moss, Stanley, The History of Color, Cover
Luginbuhl, Gregg, Teaching Peace: Nonviolence and the Liberal Arts, fig. 8 p. 156
Harris, Ann Sutherland, 17th Century Art & Architecture, fig. 3.20 p. 215
Aronson, Steven M., Architectural Digest, pp. 56-58
Ebert-Schifferer, Sybille, Important Old Master Painting Part I Including J.M.W. Turner's "Giudecca, La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio" Thursday 6 April 2006, fig. 17 p. 127
Harris, Ann Sutherland, 17th Century Art & Architecture (2nd edition), fig. 3.26 p. 222-3, 248
Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, cat. 769 p. 337
Neuman, Robert, Baroque and Rococo Art and Architecture, Fig. 5.10 p. 156
Wilmerding, John, The Pop Object: The Still Life Tradition in Pop Art, p. 19
Aterido, Ángel, Juan Fernández el Labrador, Naturalezas muertas, Fig.19 p. 57
Ignacio Cano, Gabriele Finaldi, Odile Delenda, Zurbaran (1598-1664), Fig. 3 p. 20
Odile Delenda and Mar Borobia, Zurbarán: una nueva mirada, fig. 5 p. 22
Rafael Romero Asenjo, The Unique Qualities of an Extraordinary Still Life in the Naseiro Collection: A Contribution to its Technical Analysis, Figures 9 and 10 p. #16, 17
Paulette Tavormina, Paulette Tavormina: Seizing Beauty, p. #14
Various authors, edited by Mark Rogián, Spanish Art in America, pp. 192-193 ; p. [188] (ill.), p. 190 (ill.), p. 193 (ill.)
essay by Susan Galassi, Zurbarán: Jacob and His Twelve Sons, Paintings from Auckland Castle, Fig. 54 pp. 102-103, 182
Lane Relyea, Adam McEwen, Heidi Zuckerman, Wayne Koestenbaum, etal., Adam McEwen: I Think I'm in Love, Fig. 3 p. 61 ; p. 63 (ill.)
Rothkopf, Scott, Owens, Laura, pp. 478-479
Weber, Dr. Gregor, Rembrandt-Velázquez : Dutch and Spanish Masters, Fig. 1 p. 138; p. 139 (ill.)
Nicolas Milovanovic, les arts en Europe au XVII siecle, Notice 36 pp. 158 - 159 (ill.)
Salvador Zaragoza / Vicente Todolí ed., Los Cítricos: Un viaje a través de la historia y del arte, pp. 182-`83 (ill.)
Mayer, August L., Apollo, p. 7
Soria, Martin S., Gazette des Beaux-Arts, pp. 45-46
Catturla, Maria Luisa, The Burlington Magazine, p. 303
Seckel, Helmut P. G., Gazette des Beaux-Arts, fig. 2 pp. 281-286
Seckel, Helmut P. G., Gazette des Beaux-Arts, p. 61
Gaya Nuno, J., La pintura española fuera de España, no. 3010 pp. 338-339
Gendel, M., Art News, p. 23
San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle,
Seldis, Henry, Los Angeles Times, pp. 50, 52
Gudiol, J., Los Angeles Times, pp. 50, 52
The Connoisseur, p. 307
Young, E., The Burlington Magazine, pp. 207-208
Nicolson, B., The Burlington Magazine, p. 536
Brommer, Gerald, Discovering Art History, pp. 18-23
Young, E., Apollo, pp. 435, 437
Wilson, W., Los Angeles Times, pp. 101-102
Baticle, J., Connaissance des Arts, pp. 30-43
Taggard, M., Pantheon, pp. 76-80
Brown, J., Francisco de Zurbaran, pl. 16
Caturla, M. L.; and O. Delenda, Francisco de Zurbaran, n. 96, 97 pp. 110-101, 108, 248
Museo Nacional d'Art, Catalon, Zurbaran, p. 32
Young, Eric, The Connoisseur, p. 176-185
Bettina Friedl, Creating Order: Arranging Objects into Meaning in Raphaelle Peale's Still Lifes,
Amorós, J., Boletin Sociedad Espanola de Excursiones, pp. 133-142
Longhi, Roberto; and August L. Meyer, Gli Antichi Pittori Spagnoli della collezione Contini Bonacossi, no. 65, pl. LXIV
Guinard, P.; and J. Baticle, Histoire de la peinture espagnole, p. 167
Soria, Martin S., The Paintings of Zurbaran, no. 71, fig. 47 pp. 14, 149-150
Sterling, Charles, Still Life Painting from Antiquity to the Present Time, pp. 49, 71-72
Kubler, George and Martin Soria, Art and Architecture of Spain and Portugal, 1500-1800, p. 246
Guinard, P., Zurbaran et les peintres espagnols de la vie monastique, no. 594 p. 280
Levey, Michael, A Concise History of Painting from Giotto to Cézanne, p. 193
Torres Martin, R., La Naturaleza Muerta en la Pintura Espagnola, pp. 69-72, 125
Held, Julius; and Donald Posner, 17th and 18th Century Art: Baroque Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, p. 178
Dominique, F., Jardin des Arts, p. 44
Frati, T.; and M. Gregori, L'opera completa di Zurbaran, no. 101
Frankenstein, A., San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle,
Artscanada, p. 44
Laclotte, M.; and A. Perez Sanchez, Le larousse de grands peintres, pp. 439-440
Trafalgar Galleries, In Light of Caravaggio, pp. 29, 34
Royal Academy of Arts, The Golden Age of Painting, no. 39
DeWeese-Wehen, J., Antique Monthly, p. 20C
Cohen, A.; R. Cohen, E. Young and E. Cohen, Trafalgar Galleries at the Royal Academy II, pp. 64-66
Moore, J., The Eastern Gate: An Invitation to the Arts of China and Japan, pp. 191-193
Armstrong, R., Portfolio, p. 99
Mullins, E., Great Paintings, pp. 18-23
Ades, Dawn, Dali, no. 23 pp. 33, 210
Kass, K., Morris Graves, Vision of the Inner Eye, p. 74
Alpers, Svetlana, The Art of Describing: Dutch Art in the Seventeenth Century, p. 91
Perez Sanchez, A., Pintura Española de Bodegones y Floreros de 1600 a Goya, pp. 75-76
Janés, C., Los Genios de la Pintura Española: Zurbaran, pp. 8, 52, 93
Brown, H., American Artist Magazine, p. 38
Sullivan, E., Catalogue of Spanish Paintings: North Carolina Museum of Art, p. 92
Ritschard, C., Pietro Sarto, perspectives empiriques, p. 127
Bazin, G., Les fleurs vues par les peintres, pp. 87-88
Burda, H., Pan, pp. 7-21
Perez Sanchez, A., La nature morte espagnole du XVIIe siècle à Goya, p. 93
De' Giorgio, Elsa, L'eredità Contini Bonacossi: L'ambiguo rigore del vero, fig. 40 pp. 311, 348
Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, pp. 46-47
Bryson, Norman, Critical Inquiry, p. 239
Bryson, Norman, Looking at the Overlooked: Four Essays on Still Life Painting, pp. 72-74
Mallory, N., El Greco to Murillo, pp. 118-119
Brown, Jonathan, The Golden Age of Painting in Spain, p. 99
Brown, Jonathan, Francisco de Zurbaran, pp. 98-99
Jordan, W. B. and P. Cherry, An Eye on Nature: Spanish Still Life from Velasquez to Goya, fig. 12.1 pp. 93-95, 101
The National Gallery Report April 1996-March 1997, pp. 20-21
Gallego, J. and J. Gudiol, Zurbaran, no. 83 pp. 34, 49, 56, 82
Museo de Bellas Artes, El Bodegón Español [de Zurbarán a Picasso], pp. 37-39
Friedl, Bettina, Negotiations of America's National Identity, fig. 1 pp. 56, 73, 75
Gröschel, Claudia, Oranien-Orangen-Oranienbaum, fig. 13 p. 145
Keck, Ray M., Love's Dialectic: Mimesis and Allegory in the Romances of Lope de Vega,
Madoff, Steven Henry; and David Mamet, Donald Sultan: In the Still-Life Tradition, fig. 2 p. 12
Minor, Vernon Hyde, Baroque & Rococo: Art & Culture, fig. 6.27 p. 247
Ebert-Schifferer, Sybille, Still Life: A History, Fig. 132 p. 183
Aronson, Steven M., Architectural Digest reprint, pp. 56-58
Lyons, Lisa, Departures: 11 Artists at the Getty, p. 10
Morphet, Richard, Encounters: New Art from Old, fig. 7 pp. 80, 86-87
IVAM Centre Julio González, Filippo de Pisis, pp. 18, 180
Nature Morte, p. 65, jacket
Understanding Paintings: Themes in Art Explored and Explained, p. 230; jacket cover (detail)
Heilmeyer, Marina, The Language of Flowers: Symbols and Myths, pp. 89, 93
Fernando Montes de Oca, L'age d'or du verve en France (The Golden Age of Glass in France), fig. 34 p. 32
Wieke Schrover, et al., M e M o, p. 74
Nationalmuseum, Spanish Masters and their Followers, fig. 4 p. 76
Campbell, Katie, Marmalade Season, Cover
Moss, Stanley, The History of Color, Cover
Luginbuhl, Gregg, Teaching Peace: Nonviolence and the Liberal Arts, fig. 8 p. 156
Harris, Ann Sutherland, 17th Century Art & Architecture, fig. 3.20 p. 215
Aronson, Steven M., Architectural Digest, pp. 56-58
Ebert-Schifferer, Sybille, Important Old Master Painting Part I Including J.M.W. Turner's "Giudecca, La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio" Thursday 6 April 2006, fig. 17 p. 127
Harris, Ann Sutherland, 17th Century Art & Architecture (2nd edition), fig. 3.26 p. 222-3, 248
Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, cat. 769 p. 337
Neuman, Robert, Baroque and Rococo Art and Architecture, Fig. 5.10 p. 156
Wilmerding, John, The Pop Object: The Still Life Tradition in Pop Art, p. 19
Aterido, Ángel, Juan Fernández el Labrador, Naturalezas muertas, Fig.19 p. 57
Ignacio Cano, Gabriele Finaldi, Odile Delenda, Zurbaran (1598-1664), Fig. 3 p. 20
Odile Delenda and Mar Borobia, Zurbarán: una nueva mirada, fig. 5 p. 22
Rafael Romero Asenjo, The Unique Qualities of an Extraordinary Still Life in the Naseiro Collection: A Contribution to its Technical Analysis, Figures 9 and 10 p. #16, 17
Paulette Tavormina, Paulette Tavormina: Seizing Beauty, p. #14
Various authors, edited by Mark Rogián, Spanish Art in America, pp. 192-193 ; p. [188] (ill.), p. 190 (ill.), p. 193 (ill.)
essay by Susan Galassi, Zurbarán: Jacob and His Twelve Sons, Paintings from Auckland Castle, Fig. 54 pp. 102-103, 182
Lane Relyea, Adam McEwen, Heidi Zuckerman, Wayne Koestenbaum, etal., Adam McEwen: I Think I'm in Love, Fig. 3 p. 61 ; p. 63 (ill.)
Rothkopf, Scott, Owens, Laura, pp. 478-479
Weber, Dr. Gregor, Rembrandt-Velázquez : Dutch and Spanish Masters, Fig. 1 p. 138; p. 139 (ill.)
Nicolas Milovanovic, les arts en Europe au XVII siecle, Notice 36 pp. 158 - 159 (ill.)
Salvador Zaragoza / Vicente Todolí ed., Los Cítricos: Un viaje a través de la historia y del arte, pp. 182-`83 (ill.)
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