Young+Beggar

Bartolome Esteban Murillo created this piece of art titled The Young Beggar, often called The Lice-Ridden Boy. Murillo created this piece sometime between 1645-1650, one of the first in his popular pieces that depicted street children of Seville. This was an oil painting from the Baroque period and was painted at Musee du Louvre, Paris.

The beggar boy in this painting is waiting someone to care for him and offer him supplies. The light is casting down on him where his feet are bare and dirty, and his clothes are ripped. He tightens his clothes into his hands, either wanting a meal or relaxing after he just had something to eat.

This painting is important to the culture because it resembles a poor French Beggar boy, during the hard times of the French Revolution where children were often orphaned and left to fend for themselves. Bartolome as a member of the Franciscan order, which preached living a humble life and helping those in need.