Manuel and Matilde Álvarez Amorós
1853. Oil on canvas.Not on display
This portrait of children depicts two young siblings reclining on a garden bench. Portrayed full-length, the girl, who appears to be about seven years old, wears a bonnet decorated with flowers framing her face as well as a maroon velvet coat with an ermine border. She is holding her little brother, who is about four years old, by the shoulder. He is dressed in a curious satin suit and has a ball in his hands. His hat is visible on the bench. The canvas is in the best style of Espalter and of the Catalan children’s portraiture produced by late Romantic purism. The forced likeness of the small models is always accompanied by a friendly pose, combined with an anecdotal touch in the clothing or the toys. It emphasised on the special decorative character of the backgrounds, set in colourful landscapes, almost always gardens. Conversely, in this work one can see the high plastic qualities achieved by the painter as well as the refinement of his technique in aspects such as the tactile reproduction of the qualities of the fabrics. There is a certain archaism in the simplicity of the composition with the figures arranged in an unusually large space, as well as the almost naïve meticulousness with which some details are depicted, such as the lace on the children’s trousers. The conventional treatment of the shady garden as a mere backdrop, albeit with results of unquestionable environmental effect, within an elegant and somewhat naïve purism, shows curious connections with the aesthetics of Biedermeier painting in this Catalan painter trained in the Nazarene movement.
Posada Kubissa, Teresa, Últimas adquisiciones: 1982-1995, Madrid, Museo del Prado, 1995, p.104
