Trompe l’Oeil of Chastity
Ca. 1764. Oil on canvas.Not on display
Excellent example of the genre of the meta-artistic trompe l’oeil. This painter of whom we know almost nothing makes use of two devices in order to suggest the volume and tangibility of elements that appear to be attached by nails to two boards, within a sub-genre known as the “corner of the studio” which also, and without this being the primary intention, partly show the backs of the works depicted: firstly the engravings have the edges or corners lifted up and secondly the canvases are half detached from their stretchers, some even with tears, which allows us see something of their backs from the front. Although still under study, it seems clear that all the elements and images chosen by Gallardo in this series have a meaning apparently related to the results of sustained effort in the studio and to the temptations that hinder it. We might also, however, think that in these trompe l’oeils the artist is revealing himself to be aware of the objectual status of the works, their materiality, and of how that quality is reinforced by showing the backs.
Blanco, Miguel Ángel (comisario), Reversos, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2023, p.111, 309
