The Painter Manuel Castellano
1865. Oil on canvas.Not on display
This painting portrays the bust of the painter Manuel Castellano (Madrid, 1826 – Madrid, 1880) in an oval format. He wears a bow tie with a shiny brooch, a grey jacket, and a black frock coat. The figure has a clear forehead, accentuated by incipient baldness, a moustache, and thick sideburns. Although he faces the viewer, his gaze is directed to the left.
Manuel Rodríguez Castellano was about to turn forty at the time. In 1844 he was registered as a copyist at the Museo de Pinturas in Madrid. He was a pupil of the Madrid School of Painting and of Carlos Luis de Ribera, whom he assissted in painting the ceilings of the Congress of Deputies building. He must have established his relationship with Fierros, who was a year older than him, during the years they were fellow students at the School of Painting attached to the San Fernando Academy. They also coincided at the Museum of Paintings as copyists in 1844. Both artists defended the popular and traditional essence embodied in Spanish traditions. Fierros in his paintings of Galician, Salamanca, Portuguese, Extremaduran and Asturian customs, and Castellano in his paintings of Madrid.
The size and character of this work make it an intimate portrait. The neutral background means that all the attention is focused on the sitter´s expression, which seems penetrating and, at the same time, wilful, in keeping with the genius alluded to in Casado´s letters to him. The portrait shows a loose execution and deepens the character that the known photographs of Castellano reveal.
Artistas pintados: retratos de pintores y escultores del siglo XIX en el Museo del Prado, Madrid, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Dirección Gener, 1997, p.108,109
