Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664): The Spanish CaravaggioFrancisco de Zurbarán stands as one of Spain’s most compelling Baroque masters, a painter whose austere vision and dramatic use of light transformed religious subjects into profound meditations on faith and devotion. Baptized on November 7, 1598, in Fuente de Cantos, Extremadura, and passing on August 27, 1664, in Madrid, Zurbarán earned the nickname “Spanish Caravaggio” for his masterful command of chiaroscuro—a technique borrowed from Michelangelo Caravaggio that employed dramatic contrasts between light and shadow to create a sense o…