Zurbarán’s Santa Marina versus the official copy: spot the difference in the Museo Carmen Thyssen

This particular oil painting is, in fact, the only piece from the Museo Carmen Thyssen’s permanent collection - a free loan from the Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid - and has been strategically placed as the first painting in the Zurbarán: Santas exhibition. It is displayed alongside a version of the same martyr produced in the artist’s workshop.

And if we are going to play 'spot the eight errors' between the original and the copy, the disciples of the artist do not make it easy. In fact, both works are dated in the same decade, 1640-50, the period of splendour of Zurbarán's workshop. At first glance there is a fundamental difference: the original painting with the signature of the painter from Extremadura is smaller, just 1.11 metres high, more than half a metre less than his workshop version, which measures 1.70 metres. In fact, the rest of the works gathered here, even the other one painted by Don Francisco, Santa Casilda, also has this 'official' size. What is missing in the original is the lower part of Santa Marina, from the knee approximately, although this does not mean that the copyist invented what did not exist.

"Probably the original work also measured 1.70, which makes us think that at some point in history, by damage in transport or some other unknown reason, it was cut and reduced,” explained the artistic director of the Museo Carmen Thyssen, Lourdes Moreno, who has also emphasised the detail of the embroidery and clothing, as well as the contrast between the neutral and dark background with respect to “this powerful light that the saints use to lead the faithful of the time to devotion”.

The oil painting from the Seville Museum of Fine Arts’ collection, produced in Zurbarán’s workshop, is considered one of the “most remarkable replicas to have survived to this day”. Although when comparing the two pieces up close, certain differences become apparent. At eye level, the saddlebag-like pouches’ embroidery stands out with meticulous precision in Zurbarán’s painting but appears less detailed in the copy. The saint’s blouse in the master’s work is airy and flowing. In the copy it lacks the same ethereal quality.

What is noticeable is a difference in the faces. tThe expression is more refined, sweet, and delicately contoured in the painting by Zurbarán, whereas the replica appears more generalised and flat. “The ability to handle the different whites of the collar with respect to the shirt and the face with some colour in the complexion is amazing,” added Lourdes Moreno, who also highlighted the other original by the painter, Santa Casilda, with the detail of the brocade of the dress and the jewel on the arm. A monumental work that also has history as it was one of those plundered by Napoleon's Marshal Soult when he invaded Spain in the nineteenth century, being auctioned in the mid-twentieth century and bought by a private owner from Montreal (Canada) until it was acquired by Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza and today is exhibited in the museum in Madrid.

The exhibition Zurbarán. Santas, sponsored by McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Málaga, was also presented by the Councillor for Culture, Mariana Pineda, who paid tribute to Art History professor Enrique Valdivieso, a scholar of the Spanish Golden Age who passed away recently. In addition to the quality of the exhibition, Pineda highlighted the connection between the work of the Extremaduran artist and the influence of fashion today, something the painter had already conveyed in his oil paintings “through the perfect garments of the nobility and that 17th-century society.”