Known primarily as a great painter, Bartolome Esteban Murillo (1617-1682) was also one of the best draftsmen of the 17th century. Although his devotional paintings seem to have been created effortlessly, they are the result of careful thought and study, a process that comes alive in the preparatory drawings. Murillo used a variety of techniques, favoring pen and ink and brown wash and red-and-black chalk. Like painters schooled in Italian Renaissance practice, the Spaniard developed his paintings in stages, starting with sketches of the full composition and then focusing on details that posed specific problems. Occasionally, Murillo used drawings as a medium for original compositions; these are highly finished pieces, usually enhanced by the use of wash and unmistakably stamped with the artist's personality. This sumptuous book is a thoroughly revised edition of the 1976 publication Murillo & His Drawings. Twenty sheets have been added to the catalogue of authentic works, the bibliography has been brought up to date, and the entries have been revised.

• Includes works by Ribera, Murillo, Goya, Pacheco, Carducho, Herrera the Elder, Herrera Barnuevo, Carreño de Miranda and Maella, from both public and private collections • Accompanies a major exhibition at The Frick Collection in New York, from the 5th October 2010 to the 9th January 2011 This elegantly designed, fully illustrated volume presents exquisite drawings by Spanish artists over the course of two centuries, featuring works by Ribera, Murillo and Goya from public and private collections in the New York area. Published to accompany a major exhibition at The Frick Collection in New York, this book presents the character, range and depth of the Spanish tradition of drawing from the early 17th to the early 19th century. These extraordinary works share a distinctiveness of technique, subject and mood that sets them apart from Italianate examples produced on the Peninsula in the same period — in other words, they represent a specifically 'Spanish manner'. Although Italian Renaissance principles of figure drawing and perspective were practiced by Spanish draftsmen, the greatest of them also employed techniques of dazzling idiosyncrasy: lines dart and dash freely over the paper as if the hand of the artist could not be restrained, and energetic splotches of ink wash enrich forms. Many of the themes favoured by these artists — fantastic creatures, murderers and martyrdoms, and unusual treatmants of the human body — also distinguish these works. Jonathan Brown is Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Fine Arts at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Susan Grace Galassi is Senior Curator at The Frick Collection. Lisa A. Banner is an independent scholar.

Presents drawings by Spanish artists over the course of two centuries and is published to accompany a major exhibition at The Frick Collection in New York.