Man condemned by the Inquisition
1860. Oil on canvas.Not on display
Wearing a penitent´s hood, a man condemned by the Inquisition rides a burro, receiving the insults of those observing this street scene. Executed with rapid and impasto brushstrokes favors, this work is inspired by scenes of inquisitorial condemnations painted by Goya, who was an exceptional witness to them. Lucas, however, could not have been a direct witness to this type of events as the inquisition was abolished by the Cortes de Cádiz in 1812 and definitively dissolved in 1834, following the death of Fernando VII. Lucas painted an entire series of paintings on the same subject which are also in the Prado Museum, such as Those Condemned by the Inquisition (P06974) and Woman Condemned by the Inquisition (P04438). This work is part of a donation made to the now-defunct Museum of Modern Art in 1968 by María de los Ángeles Sáinz de la Cuesta, Countess of los Moriles, in memory of her husband, Juan Vitórica Casuso.