May 2, 2026
Sacred Light: The National Gallery's First-Ever Zurbarán Show
The National Gallery staged the first major UK exhibition devoted to Francisco de Zurbarán, the master of hushed, candlelit devotion from Baroque Seville.
In 2026 the National Gallery gave Francisco de Zurbarán his first-ever major exhibition in Britain — a long-overdue tribute to one of the greatest painters of Spain's golden age.
Working in 17th-century Seville, Zurbarán painted saints, monks and still lifes with an almost unbearable stillness: simple forms emerging from deep shadow into a quiet, holy light. His meditative canvases feel modern in their austerity.
Drawing nearly 50 works from collections including the Louvre and the Art Institute of Chicago, the show revealed why artists from Manet to the present have been spellbound by his silent, luminous world.
Image: “Saint Francis in Ecstasy - Francisco de Zurbarán” — Francisco de Zurbarán, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.