Antonio Pérez’ sons before Rodrigo Vázquez
1892. Oil on canvas.On display elsewhere
This work narrates a historical event concerning the male secretary of Philip II who, because he was accused of having assassinated Juan Escobedo –secretary to John of Austria–, he in an event filled life, he suffered harassment and torture by the prosecuting authorities, witnessed the execution of accomplices, and after several thwarted attempts, escaped. The scene depicts the President of the Council of Castile seated at a table on the left, and Antonio Pérez´s five sons are approaching him from the right. On the background wall, at the height of the table, is a barred window that lets in the light, which falls on the children´s costumes. The painter has taken as his female models the portraits of Philip II´s daughters, Isabel Clara Eugenia and Catalina Micaela, by Alonso Sánchez Coello and Juan Pantoja de la Cruz. The works of these two painters are the common point of reference for the costumes and hair ornaments of the characters of Philip II´s reign. The hieratic nature of the figures in Bermudo´s painting and his somewhat hardened and archaic technique demonstrate a desire to paint a history painting, not only in the thematic sense of the term but also in the stylistic sense.
José Bermudo Mateos (1853-1920), Badajoz, Museo de Bellas Artes de Badajoz, 2015, p.24,54,55,71-73, 82 n.21
