Monumento a Murillo

Monumento a Murillo stands in Seville’s Plaza del Museo, directly before the Museum of Fine Arts. A bronze figure of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo honours the painter born in Seville in 1617. His work helped define Spanish Baroque painting, and he spent most of his life shaping the city’s artistic culture.

The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Santa Isabel de Hungría proposed the monument in 1847. Sabino de Medina created the statue, which was cast in Paris in 1864 and placed on an Italian marble pedestal. The finished monument reached its present setting after an earlier proposal for Plaza de Santa Cruz. Its upper pedestal forms a prism with a base and capital, while the lower section rises in simpler steps. A blind oculus displays a palette and brush beneath a garland, linking the sculpture to painting.

The inscription “Murillo” appears on the front, while “Jaime Lois” stands in red on the back. José Lois e Ibarra added that tribute while completing the pedestal’s design without payment. Grass and flowers form a green border around the statue, keeping visitors at a respectful distance.