P. Bustos de Lara

This 1640 painting of P. Bustos de Lara belongs to a series of historical and legendary figures from Spanish history. Such portrait cycles decorated noble residences and reflected the growing interest in Spanish national history during the reign of Philip IV. Zurbarán's austere, powerfully meditative style—white-robed monks in intense chiaroscuro, saints presented against dark backgrounds with sculptural solidity—made him the ideal painter for the Counter-Reformation religious orders of Extremadura and Seville.

The full-length figure is dressed in historical costume rendered with Zurbarán's characteristic attention to fabric textures. The frontal, iconic presentation gives the historical figure a monumental gravity.