Our images from the Zurbarán exhibition at the Louvre.

We previewed the exhibition the day before it opened to the public. Beneath the midnight blue walls of the Hall Napoléon, the large monastic canvases emerge: the Saint Serapion, the Exposition of the Body of Saint Bonaventure, and, isolated in its niche, the Christ on the Cross of 1627. Further on, the Agnus Dei, the female saints in ceremonial robes, and the still lifes lead to the polychrome sculptures of the neighboring exhibition, Sculpting Color, accessible with the same ticket.

Purity, isolation of figures, the power of restraint, the softness of colors, and embodiment: these are the key words of the work of Francisco de Zurbarán. A vast retrospective devoted to this major figure of the Spanish Golden Age is opening at the Louvre Museum, marking the return of a major international exhibition dedicated to the artist. Zurbarán appears today as a painter of astonishing modernity. His art combines the monumentality of simplified forms, a meticulous attention to reality, and an exceptional sense of both light and color.

Organized into seven sections, the exhibition brings together approximately 65 paintings, including some 50 signed by the master. It allows visitors to rediscover the major commissions created for Andalusian monasteries that secured the painter's renown. Significant space is also given to his portraits and still lifes, genres in which his silent and precise gaze reaches its full intensity. The brief but remarkable output of his son, Juan de Zurbarán, is also included. This retrospective ultimately aims to highlight the artist's enduring influence. An epilogue recalls the admiration shown to him by major figures of modernity, from Édouard Manet to Pablo Picasso, highlighting how the plastic power and strangeness of his compositions will continue to inspire.

Zurbarán Exhibition at the Louvre: The Essentials

• Where? At the Louvre Museum, in the Napoleon Hall (Paris 1st arrondissement).
• When? From October 7, 2026 to January 25, 2027, every day except Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., late openings on Wednesdays and Fridays until 9 p.m.
• What? Approximately 65 paintings, including about fifty by Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664), divided into seven sections: monastic commissions, portraits, still lifes, works by his son Juan de Zurbarán, and a modern epilogue (Manet, Picasso, Juan Grey).
• How much? €22 (residents of the European Economic Area), €32 outside the EEA, free under certain conditions; The ticket also grants access to the Sculpting Color exhibition.
• Visit duration: approximately 1 hour 15 minutes.
• Organized by: the Louvre, the National Gallery, London, and the Art Institute of Chicago, curated by Charlotte Chastel-Rousseau.

LOUVRE MUSEUM
From October 7, 2026 to January 25, 2027
Rue de Rivoli, 75001
Metro: Palais-Royal (Lines 1/7)
Open daily except Tuesdays, 9 a.m.–6 p.m., Wednesdays and Fridays until closing time. 9 p.m.
Price: €22 - Free for under 26s