Queen María Cristina and her Daughter, Isabel II, reviewing the Artillery Batteries defending Madrid in 1837
1865 - 1866. Oil on canvas.Room 063B
This canvas was displayed on the ceiling of the Salon Rouge of the Duke and Duchess of Riánsares’ Paris mansion. The decoration of this hall, which was designed to receive visitors, glorified María Cristina’s regency and the legitimacy of her daughter Isabella II, which was opposed by the supporters of Carlos María Isidro de Borbón, rival aspirant to the throne. The work depicts the skirmishes of September 1837 between loyal forces and Carlist troops, which proved decisive to the developments of the first Carlist war (1833-40) and showed the inferiority of Ferdinand VII’s brother’s side. Fortuny had to combine many topographical references to the outskirts of Madrid where the various actions depicted took place. The events are portrayed veraciously and are arranged around the Abroñigal stream in the centre of the composition, from which the lamp was to hang.
Fortuny captures both the solemnity of the royal review, arranged in a harmonious group, and the confusion of the skirmish taking place between the two armies in the middle-ground, which is painted in a looser, richer manner. The subtle handling of the background, which includes details such as the smoke from the rifles, and the manner of conveying the uneven terrain through the use of impasto, make the landscape (with its unnatural perspective) more important than the actual subject of the work.
