Since 1948 the NGV has been home to The Immaculate Conception, an example of the work of the great Spanish artist Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. His large altarpiece, thought to have been painted between 1665 and 1670, is one of many versions of this subject that Murillo painted for the churches of his birthplace, Seville. Despite Murillo’s continual return to this theme throughout his career, he sought to revise and refine his compositions so that each version contained its own unique variations of its Virgin, clouds and floating angels. The NGV’s large painting shows the Virgin’s hands raised in prayer, in common with five key versions of the work, yet with her rich blue mantle draped differently in all but one of those other versions.
Scholars have known for many decades that the NGV painting was most closely related to a version called the Esquilache Immaculate Conception, 1645–55, which is now in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. The Esquilache painting appears almost identical to the NGV painting except for the presence of additional seraphim in the top left, bottom right and centre background. The two paintings have never been seen side-by-side by Murillo scholars, so debate about which of the two versions could be considered the primary or first-painted version has been impeded by less reliable photographic reproductions.
A year-long major conservation treatment has provided the NGV conservation team with a unique opportunity to re-examine this important painting. The paint layers had previously been difficult to assess because of a thick, discoloured varnish layer that had covered the surface for more than seventy-five years. Once it was removed and replaced with a new layer of clear varnish, the artist’s fluent brushwork reappeared, reaffirming Murillo’s seemingly effortless skill in rendering soft forms in paint. An example of this can be seen in isolation in the beautifully executed angel wing of the putto in the lower left.
Conservation researchers have noted that Murillo habitually painted with such an assured hand that there are very few alterations, known as pentimenti, found in his paintings. Pentimenti are sometimes visible to the naked eye but are usually best seen in x-ray images. The NGV painting was x-rayed in 2023, and it revealed a rare pentimento. In the top-right corner of the painting there is an angel holding a stem of white lilies in its raised right hand. The radiographic detail shows that Murillo originally painted this arm lower and with its wrist turned the other way as it held the lilies. This pentimento tells us that this figure’s final pose was resolved on the canvas as Murillo worked, and as such is most likely the first time he attempted this exact arrangement. We do not have an x-ray image for the Esquilache version, but the fact that it replicates the final pose of the NGV putto suggests that it is the later version. This small but important detail may be the key to finally resolving the century-long debate over which painting was painted first. Further collaborative research with the Hermitage Museum will include a complete comparative assessment of the paintings, but for the time being visitors have the freshly restored painting back on display to experience Murillo’s skill and bravura.
Carl Villis is NGV Senior Conservator of Paintings. Scan the code to see x-rays and other details of Murillo’s The Immaculate Conception.
This article first appeared in the May–June 2024 edition of NGV Magazine.