Artwork
Baking of Flat Cakes
Baking of Flat Cakes is an oil painting by the Spanish Baroque Tenebrist artist Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. It dates from 1650 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
As a work of genre art, the painting derives its meaning from the realistic portrayal of common activities rather than mythological or religious narratives.
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo's Baking of Flat Cakes, executed in 1650, is a genre scene depicting a domestic interior focused on food preparation. The composition features a woman and a child engaged with a frying pan and flat cakes, capturing a moment of everyday life in 17th-century Spain. As a work of genre art, the painting derives its meaning from the realistic portrayal of common activities rather than mythological or religious narratives.
The interaction between the figures and the culinary tools highlights the artist's interest in the dignity and immediacy of ordinary existence.
Technique & Style
The painting is executed in oil on canvas, measuring 163 cm in height and 120 cm in width. The composition depicts a woman and child engaged in the preparation of flat cakes, rendered with Murillo’s characteristic attention to domestic realism and warm chiaroscuro. The handling emphasizes soft modeling of forms and a subdued palette, typical of the artist’s mid-century Seville period.
The scene’s informal staging and focus on everyday life align with the genre’s conventions, while the delicate treatment of light and texture underscores the material immediacy of the subject.
The work’s condition is not documented in the cited sources.
History & Provenance
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo created the oil-on-canvas painting Baking of Flat Cakes in 1650 in Spain. The work measures 163 cm in height and 120 cm in width. Historical records indicate that the piece was once owned by Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky before entering the collection of the Hermitage Museum, where it remains located today. No detailed exhibition history is recorded in the available sources.
Overview
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s oil painting Baking of Flat Cakes, executed around 1650, presents a modest domestic interior illuminated by strong contrasts of light and shadow. The composition centers on a woman and a child engaged in the simple task of preparing pancakes, while a boy watches from behind. The work belongs to Murillo’s genre series that capture everyday moments in 17th‑century Spain.
Artist & collection
Artist
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo ( mure-IL-oh, m(y)uu-REE-oh, Spanish:; late December 1617, baptised 1 January 1618 – 3 April 1682) was a Spanish Baroque painter.
