Still life with four vases, Francisco de Zurbarán - c. 1635 from the old master collection

Francisco de Zurbarán (Fuente de Cantos, 7 November 1598 - Madrid, 27 August 1664) was a Spanish painter.

Zurbarán may have had the opportunity to copy some of Michelangelo da Caravaggio's paintings in Seville. In any case, he was called the Spanish Caravaggio because of the strict realistic style in which he excelled. Usually he painted directly from nature. For his study of draped fabric, for which he had a particularly great talent, he made frequent use of ledepoints. He had a special gift for painting white fabrics. The Carthusians, dressed in white, appear frequently in his paintings.

Zurbarán is said to have adhered to this approach throughout his life. His subjects were usually serious and ascetic religious ceremonies in which the spirit chastises the flesh to submission. The compositions are rarely overloaded and are often reduced to a single figure. His style is more reserved and subdued than that of Caravaggio and his paintings are often bluish in colour. Exceptional effects are achieved by a precisely worked out foreground that fills up a large part of the image and by the use of light and shadow.

The works of Francisco de Zurbarán are considered to be Baroque.