Four Figures On A Step

C.1655

Murillo steps away from his usual grand religious scenes to capture a delightfully candid moment of 17th-century street life, featuring a cheeky young boy in a floppy hat grinning at the viewer and an older woman wearing comically large, round spectacles cradling a sleeping child. Behind them, another woman lifts a cloth, adding to the bustling, unposed energy of these 'pícaros,' or street urchins, who were a popular subject in Spanish Baroque art for showing the vibrant, humorous lives of the poor. You can spot this charming slice of history hanging in the National Gallery in London today.

Location: National Gallery, London

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