''The Angels' Kitchen'' is a 1646 oil on canvas painting by

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo Bartolomé Esteban Murillo ( , ; late December 1617, baptized January 1, 1618April 3, 1682) was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contempor ...

, originally produced for a small Franciscan monastery in the artist's native

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

. From at least 1810 it was in the

Alcázar of Seville The Alcázar of Seville, officially called Royal Alcázar of Seville (), is a historic royal palace in Seville, Spain. It was formerly the site of the Al-Andalus, Islamic-era citadel of the city, begun in the 10th century and then developed into ...

, before being looted by

Marshal Soult Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman. He was a Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic Wars, and served three times as President of the Council of ...

, arriving in his collection in Paris in 1813. The French state bought it in the sale of Soult's collection in 1858 and it has hung in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, ever since.

Michel Butor Michel Butor (; 14 September 1926 – 24 August 2016) was a French poet, novelist, teacher, essayist, art critic and translator. Life and work Michel Marie François Butor was born in Mons-en-Barœul, a suburb of Lille, the third of seven chil ...

included it in his list of 105 decisive masterpieces of Western art.

History

It originally formed part of a set of twelve works, the others being: *''The Ecstacy of Saint Francis'' and ''Saint Diego Feeding Beggars'' (both

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the centre of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal aca ...

, Madrid) *''Brother Julian of Alcala'' and ''The Soul of Philip II'' (

Clark Art Institute The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, commonly referred to as the Clark, is an art museum and research institution located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. Its collection consists of European ...

, Williamstown, USA) *''The Death of Saint Clare'' (

Dresden Gemäldegalerie Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth largest by area (after Berlin, Hamburg, and ...

) *''Immaculate Conception'' and ''Saint Diego'' (lost) *''Saint

Didacus of Alcalá Didacus of Alcalá (), also known as Diego de San Nicolás, was a Spanish Franciscan lay brother who served among the first group of missionaries to the newly conquered Canary Islands. He died at Alcalá de Henares on 12 November 1463 and is ho ...

and the Bishop of Pamplona'' (

Musée des Augustins The Musée des Augustins de Toulouse () is a fine arts museum in Toulouse, France which conserves a collection of sculpture and paintings from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century. The paintings are from throughout France, the sculptures rep ...

, Toulouse, France) *''Saint Salvador of Horta'' or ''Plague'' (Hertz. Pozzo di Borgo, Paris) *''The Blessed Giles Before

Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX (; born Ugolino di Conti; 1145 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and the ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decretales'' and instituting the Pa ...

'' (

North Carolina Museum of Art The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) is an art museum in Raleigh, North Carolina. It opened in 1956 as the first major museum collection in the country to be formed by state legislation and funding. Since the initial 1947 appropriation that ...

, Raleigh, USA) *''Two Franciscan Monks'' (

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

, Ottawa, Canada) *'' Brother Juniper and the Poor Man'' ( Museum of Fine Arts, Dole, France) It shows an otherwise unknown scene from the history of the Franciscan order, possibly Brother Francisco Perez from

Alcalá de Guadaíra Alcalá de Guadaíra () is a town located approximately 17 km southeast of Seville, Spain, Seville, Spain; in recent years the expansion of Seville has meant that Alcalá has become a suburb of that city. Alcalá used to be known as ''Alcal� ...

, who was an assistant in the kitchen of the monastery of San Francisco el Grande. According to legend, he was such an ardent devotee that he once forgot his duties and fell asleep. When he woke up he found his duties miraculously fulfilled.

References

Angels in art 1646 paintings Paintings by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo in the Louvre {{1640s-painting-stub