Allegory of the Sciences
Ca. 1794. Grey-brown wash, Pencil ground on laid paper.Not on display
This is a preparatory drawing for a print engraved by Vicente Capilla. The extreme synthesis of its execution, resolved by means of very rapid and schematic brushstrokes –common features of the Valencian school of drawing in the late 18th century– has led to its attribution to Rafael Ximeno y Planes, a fellow countryman of López. This attribution was informed by both the inscription in pencil on the sheet on which the drawing is pasted and Pérez Sánchez’s opinion in the 1977 catalogue.
Nevertheless, certain features indicate López’s hand: the straightness of the lines, the style of shading and creating volume, and the human models used. The attribution to the artist is confirmed by the print that served as a model. There are however certain compositional variations; the winged genii disappear, insinuated here in the upper register; the main figure is standing and not seated as in the drawing, and the matron who embodies Metaphysics, on the right, is shown with her body slightly turned, partially shaded, and blindfolded.
Díez García, José Luis, Vicente López (1772-1850) II. Catálogo razonado, Madrid, Fundación de Apoyo a la Historia del Arte Hispánico, 1999, p.353, D-318
