Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was born in Seville late in 1617 and was baptized there on January 1, 1618. He was the youngest child in a large family.
Murillo was orphaned while still a child and was raised within the household of an older sister. He probably received his early artistic training from Juan del Castillo.
His early style developed within the artistic environment of Seville. Paintings by Francisco de Zurbarán and the early work of Diego Velázquez were among the important influences available to him.
Murillo's first major public success came in 1645 when he received a commission for a series of paintings for the cloister of the Franciscan convent in Seville.
These works established his reputation as a religious painter and led to further commissions from churches, monasteries, charitable institutions, and private patrons.
Murillo married Beatriz Cabrera in 1645. They had several children before her death in 1663.
During the 1650s Murillo's style became increasingly distinctive. His handling of paint grew softer, his palette became more luminous, and his figures often displayed greater warmth and naturalness.
In 1658 Murillo traveled to Madrid. There he had opportunities to study works in the royal collections, including paintings by Velázquez and important Flemish and Italian masters.
In 1660 Murillo helped establish an academy for painters in Seville. He served as one of its first presidents and played an important role in the artistic life of the city.
Murillo received important commissions from Seville Cathedral and other religious institutions. He also developed relationships with individual patrons who commissioned works for churches and private devotion.
Among his most important later projects was a series of paintings for the Hospital de la Caridad in Seville. The institution cared for the poor and sick, and Murillo himself belonged to the charitable brotherhood associated with it.
The Caridad paintings connected Christian charity with examples drawn from Scripture and Christian tradition. One of the surviving works depicts Jesus healing the disabled man at the Pool of Bethesda.
Murillo was also highly successful as a painter of the Immaculate Conception. These works became among his most famous images, although the doctrine and its characteristic visual representation should be distinguished from direct biblical narrative.
Alongside his religious work, Murillo painted portraits and scenes of everyday life. His paintings of children were especially admired and influenced later European artists.
Children also appear frequently in his religious paintings. Murillo represented the young Jesus and the young John the Baptist in devotional images that combine natural childhood behavior with symbols of Christ's future mission.
Murillo remained the leading painter in Seville during the final decades of his life. He died there in 1682.
His paintings became extraordinarily popular throughout Europe during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. His accessible treatment of sacred subjects helped make him one of the most widely recognized Spanish painters before the modern revival of interest in artists such as Velázquez and El Greco.