Maximina Martínez de Pedrosa
1860. Oil on canvas.Not on display
A bust portrait of the artist´s cousin and wife over a dark background. She is turned slightly to the right. Her hair is pulled back and she is dressed in blue with a transparent black tulle shawl on her shoulders. This painting was made when she was twenty-one years old, some time before her marriage, and in it, Rosales very freely reflects his feelings of tenderness and love toward the model. Beyond the manifest influence of Velasquez, mention should be made of the rapid and loose technique, which is combined with more modern elements closer to some aspects of Manet or Degas´ work. This is especially clear in the plasticity of certain objects, such as the shawl, the flower on the neck of her dress and her belt buckle. This work was painted on a rectangular stretcher and was to bear an oval frame.