Bartolomé Estebán Murillo

The Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, 1671, Oil on canvas, 250 x 590 cm, Church of the Hospital de la Caridad, Seville; Album / Art Resource, NY

Holy Charity

Commentary by Mercedes Cerón

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Despite appearances, this is not a straightforward depiction of either the Feeding of the Five Thousand or the Feeding of the Four Thousand. Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s painting belongs to a complex iconographic programme commissioned by nobleman Don Miguel Mañara for the church of the Brotherhood of the Holy Charity in his hometown of Seville. There were also two allegorical paintings by Juan de Valdés Leal in the series.

The city was still reeling after decades of suffering caused first by the bubonic plague and later by food shortages that resulted in riots. Mañara chose this passage as an illustration of one of the seven corporal works of mercy, ‘To feed the hungry’.

The narrow format of the canvas, created for a specific location, restricts the suggestion of depth, and the groups of figures are distinguished by the changes in lighting. Murillo’s contribution to the series focused on the hope of salvation through individual good works. Painted in his characteristic warm, calm style, these seven scenes drawn from the Old and New Testaments provided the viewer with a hopeful guide to eternal bliss following the principles of the Counter Reformation. All the paintings emphasize the importance of kindness and compassion.

In contrast with the undefined multitude that populates the background, the figures in the foreground of Murillo’s painting are recognizable as contemporary Sevillian people. Murillo follows the Gospel of John, since he includes a young boy carrying a platter with two fishes as the centre of his composition (John 6:9). A mother holding a small child and an elderly woman watch the miracle unfold. These popular figures appear as witnesses who invite the intended viewers—seventeenth-century Sevillian churchgoers—to identify with the people profiting from Jesus’s teachings. The ‘young lad’ who chose to share his food embodies the generosity that Mañara intended to promote as an example for ordinary citizens.

 

References

Brown, Jonathan. 1970. ‘Hieroglyphs of Death and Salvation: The Decoration of the Church of the Hermandad de La Caridad, Seville’, The Art Bulletin, 52.3: 265–77

See full exhibition for Matthew 14:13–21; 15:32–39; Mark 6:30–44; 8:1–10; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–15

Matthew 14:13–21; 15:32–39; Mark 6:30–44; 8:1–10; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–15

Revised Standard Version

Matthew 14

13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick. 15When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days, and have nothing to eat; and I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get bread enough in the desert to feed so great a crowd?” 34And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves have you?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35And commanding the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37And they all ate and were satisfied; and they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 38Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39And sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magʹadan.

Mark 6

30 The apostles returned to Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves. 33Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns, and got there ahead of them. 34As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 35And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a lonely place, and the hour is now late; 36send them away, to go into the country and villages round about and buy themselves something to eat.” 37But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” 38And he said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39Then he commanded them all to sit down by companies upon the green grass. 40So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. 42And they all ate and were satisfied. 43And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

8 In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him, and said to them, 2“I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days, and have nothing to eat; 3and if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come a long way.” 4And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these men with bread here in the desert?” 5And he asked them, “How many loaves have you?” They said, “Seven.” 6And he commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7And they had a few small fish; and having blessed them, he commanded that these also should be set before them. 8And they ate, and were satisfied; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9And there were about four thousand people. 10And he sent them away; and immediately he got into the boat with his disciples, and went to the district of Dalmanuʹtha.

Luke 9

10 On their return the apostles told him what they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a city called Beth-saʹida. 11When the crowds learned it, they followed him; and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and cured those who had need of healing. 12Now the day began to wear away; and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away, to go into the villages and country round about, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a lonely place.” 13But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” 14For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each.” 15And they did so, and made them all sit down. 16And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17And all ate and were satisfied. And they took up what was left over, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

John 6

6After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tibeʹri-as. 2And a multitude followed him, because they saw the signs which he did on those who were diseased. 3Jesus went up on the mountain, and there sat down with his disciples. 4Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him, Jesus said to Philip, “How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9“There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?” 10Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place; so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten. 14When the people saw the sign which he had done, they said, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!”

15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

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