British collections are rich with Spanish paintings of the seventeenth century (the ‘Golden Age') and include stunning examples of work by Velázquez, Murillo, Zurbarán and El Greco. These collections were primarily developed during the nineteenth century by individuals with a particular interest in Spain, and later through the expansion of public collections.
The work of Murillo was arguably the most prized by British collectors, especially in the early nineteenth century, and his genre scenes proved particularly popular.
The work of El Greco, however, took far longer to find an appreciative audience in Britain and it was not until the twentieth century that his work became popular with collectors.
