Sebastian Gomez, the mulatto slave of Murillo, is said to have become
enamored of art while performing the menial offices of his master's
studio. Like Erigonus, the color grinder of Nealces, or like Pareja, the
mulatto of Velasquez, he devoted his leisure to the secret study of the
principles of drawing, and in time acquired a skill with the brush
rivalled by few of the regular scholars of Murillo. There is a tradition
at Seville, that he took the opportunity one day, when the painting room
was empty, of giving the first proof of his abilities, by finishing the
head of a Virgin, that stood ready sketched on his master's easel.
Pleased with the beauty of this unexpected interpolation, Murillo, when
he discovered the author of it, immediately promoted Gomez to the use of
those colors which it had hitherto been his task to grind. "I am indeed
fortunate, Sebastian," said the good-natured artist, "for I have not
only created pictures, but a painter."