Christopher Columbus at the Convent of La Rábida (sketch)
1856. Oil on canvas.Room 075
This is the sketch for the first history painting to be awarded the top prize at the first National Fine Arts Exhibition in 1856, a work (P5726). This piece not only reveals compositional changes during the creative process but also shows that the artist initially envisaged a work of Spanish Baroque austerity, although eventually he inclined towards French models.