Tomás Cortina, General Counsel of the Royal Household and Heritage
1851. Oil on canvas.On display elsewhere
The artist portrays the figure up to his knees. He is 55 years old and seated in an armchair, posing with a lean face and a clear forehead in front of a partially drawn curtain that reveals a mountainous background. The ticket in his hand identifies him. He is wearing a judicial robe adorned with lace at the collar and cuffs. His chest bears the large crosses and sashes of the orders of Isabella the Catholic and Charles III, as well as the French legion of honour.
Tomás Cortina was born in 1796, and from a very young age he held various public offices linked to the Palace. Thus, in 1825 he was appointed Fiscal Agent of the Supreme Patrimonial Board of Appeals, and three years later he was General Counsel of the Royal House of the Post Office. He was General Counsel of the Royal Household and Heritage from 1831 and he married María de la Presentación Oñate at the end of 1834. In 1843, he was appointed temporary General Supervisor of the Royal Household, and in the same year he was granted the key of Gentlemen of the Bedchamber.
He died on the 22nd of December 1851. It was precisely during the last year of his life that Madrazo portrayed him. It is an official effigy, with a composition both conventional and inexpressive. Yet this portrait is particularly interesting, as it is one of the last works of this genre by José de Madrazo, who dated it in 1851 along with his highly visible signature. However, its scarce bibliography dates it to around 1820.
Díez, José Luis, José de Madrazo (1781-1859), Santander, Fundación Marcelino Botín, 1998, p.348
