Juan de Zurbarán: A Master of Shadow and Still Life Juan de Zurbarán (1620 – 1649) stands as a singular figure in the history of Spanish Baroque painting, renowned primarily for his intensely dramatic still lifes—'bodegones’—that captured the essence of everyday objects with an unparalleled sense of realism and spiritual depth. Born in Llerena, Badajoz, the son of Francisco de Zurbarán, a respected artist already established in Seville, Juan was immersed in the artistic world from a young age, likely apprenticed to his father within his workshop. This familial connection profoundly shaped hi…