The Virgin of the Rosary (1650-1655) reproduction on canvas (16 x 24 unframed and 21 x 29 with frame) by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682), a Spanish Baroque painter best known for his religious works.

The original oil painting is presently at the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain.

By the early 1650s, the reputation of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682) had surpassed that of the great Zurbarán, at least in Seville. So far, though, Murillo had concentrated on standard religious works, and had not developed a particularly distinctive individual style.

Murillo made several fine paintings of one of the most popular of Catholic religious works, showing the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus, when his backgrounds remained very dark.

He follows the lead set a century earlier by the likes of Raphael in portraying the mother and child as very earthly and almost contemporary figures, helping mothers and their families identify with them, and avoiding anything which might have run contrary to the Counter-Reformation. This is augmented by his inclusion of an anachronistic rosary, a gentle nudge to viewers to carry and use theirs.

As is traditional, Mary's clothing adds brilliant colour, and he renders the fabrics particularly well.