The famine in Madrid
1820. Etching, Aquatint on brown wove paper.Room 066
The canvas The year of the famine in Madrid (P003924) was created in the context of a recent and tragic memory: the Madrid famine of 1811-12. In José Aparicio’s scene a group of starving figures heroically rejects bread offered by French soldiers. This action is presented as an allegory of "Spanish resoluteness" and a narrative of unconditional loyalty to the absolutism reestablished by Ferdinand VII after his return from exile in France. The inscription "NADA SIN FERNANDO” [Nothing without Fernando] carved into one of the pillars in the scene reinforces this propagandistic message, transforming a recent calamity into an instrument of legitimacy for the monarch.
Aparicio decided to produce an engraving of the painting after it was hung in the Prado Museum in 1819. Although engravings of this kind were quite rare in Spain at the time, this was not the case in other European countries, where they were commonplace for works that had been successfully exhibited. Capitalising on the interest aroused among the public, selling them could yield considerable profits. In this case, Aparicio sought to transform The Fame (El hambre) into financial gain as part of a peculiar strategy to which I shall return later. He advertised in the press for subscriptions to his engraving, including a coloured version based on the original painting. He noted that his painting had met with ‘truly popular acceptance’ and had won the approval of the king and ‘the applause of the people’.
Crespo, Daniel, «Los aplausos del pueblo». Público y exposición de El año del hambre en Madrid. en: El cuadro del hambre, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2026, p.74
