Concepción Serrano, later Countess of Santovenia

1871. Oil on canvas.
Room 061B

María de la Concepción Serrano y Domínguez was the eldest child of General Serrano, the Duke of Torre. She was born in Havana in 1860, which her father was Commander in Chief of Cuba. In 1880, she married the second Count of Santovenia. She died in 1941 in Biarritz, her habitual residence. Rosales´ portrait shows a girl of eleven in a very gracious poise, secure in her social position at the moment when her father exercised his maximum political power as President of the Government. This work was presented at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in 1871, where it was surprising because of its distance from what had been customary in Spanish portraits until then. The greater monumentally which the painter gives this figure, the perfect rendering of the qualities of the textiles and the variations in tones produced by the highlights were truly striking. This is joined by the painter´s knowledge of Spain´s pictorial tradition. And, in fact, the girl is depicted in a setting that is very similar to Velasquez´s portrait of Prince Baltasar Carlos as a Hunter (P01189). Moreover, her pose recalls certain royal portraits by Goya.

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Concepción Serrano, later Countess of Santovenia

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Inventory number: P006711
Author: Eduardo Rosales Gallinas
Title: Concepción Serrano, later Countess of Santovenia
Date: 1871
Technique: Oil
Support: Canvas
Dimension: Width: 106 cm; Height: 163 cm
Provenance: Bequest of Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado, 1982
Entry date: 1982

Bibliography +

Exposición de retratos de niño en España: catálogo general ilustrado, Sociedad Española de Amigos del Arte, Madrid, 1925, pp. 89.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Catálogo de las pinturas del siglo XIX, Ministerio de Cultura, Madrid, 1986, pp. 255.

Museo Nacional del Prado, El retrato español: del Greco a Picasso, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2004, pp. 370.

Enciclopedia del Museo del Prado, III, T.F. Editores: Fundación Amigos, Madrid, 2006, pp. 829.

Barón, Javier, 'Eduardo Rosales. Concepción Serrano, luego condesa de Santovenia', El siglo XIX en el Prado, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2007, pp. 224-226 n.42.

Barón, Javier, 'Eduardo Rosales. Concepción Serrano, subsequently Countess of Santovenia', The Nineteenth Century in the Prado, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2007, pp. 224-226 nº.42.

Salas, Xavier de, La exposición de la obra de Eduardo Rosales 1836-1873, Estudios, 2010, pp. 345-377.

Díez, José Luis (dir.), Pintura del Siglo XIX en el Museo del Prado. Catálogo general, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2015, pp. 523.

Reyero, Carlos, El retrato de la condesa de Santovenia de Eduardo Rosales, En: Los tesoros ocultos del Museo del Prado, Madrid, 2017, pp. 357-378.

Barón, J, 'Eduardo Rosales. Condesa de Santovenia" En:, Cuarenta años de amistad. Donaciones de la Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado., Museo Nacional del Prado. Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado, Madrid, 2021, pp. 36 nº 1.

Other inventories +

Inv. Nuevas Adquisiciones (iniciado en 1856). Núm. 1972.
L. Rosales / 1972. 'Retrato' de la Marquesa de Santovenia / L. 1,63 X 1,06 / Cat. 6711 / Adquirido en 1982