This is a bust portrait of the painter at 28 years old, when he was already a close friend of Federico de Madrazo’s. He is depicted frontally, slightly turned to the left, and wearing spectacles, a wide moustache and goatee. Over the jacket, and highlighted over the white shirt, there is a half-sketched bowtie, painted with broad brushstrokes that contrast with the detailed rendering of the face. The shine in his spectacles grants his gaze a particular intensity, a reflection of the sensitivity and intelligence of ‘great Benito’, as Federico himself nicknamed him so many times during his life – probably in contrast to the humorous ‘bad Murillo’ that their friends Palmaroli and Rosales used to call him.

In 1862, Federico painted a portrait of Soriano again, on the occasion of his marriage to Manuela Berroeta Aldamar.

Artistas pintados: retratos de pintores y escultores del siglo XIX en el Museo del Prado, Madrid, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Dirección Gener, 1997, p.80-81 nº8