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Sketch for the fresco adorning the ceiling of the Sala de Maria Luisa in the Casa del Labrador at Aranjuez. Beneath Flora in flight is the Earth goddess, Cybele, to whom some farmers pay their respects. On one side is Apollo, god of the sun, with the allegories of the Tagus and Jarama rivers that meet in Aranjuez. On the other is Ceres with sheaves of corn.
Preparatory sketch for a work possibly intended for the private chapel of the Infante Don Antonio Pascual in the Royal Palace of Aranjuez. The composition is very similar to the Last Supper in the Royal Palace of Madrid painted by Maella in 1794.
Figura de más de tres cuartos, mirando al espectador, con un cortinaje a la derecha y una columna truncada al fondo, está en pie ante una mesa, en primer plano, sobre la que apoya una escribanía de plata, libros y un memorial en el que se lee: "Ex.mo Sr / Froylan / de Bergan / zo / Suppl.a". El modelo sostiene en sus manos otro memorial: "Exmo. S. / Supca. V. E. se dign[e] / concederle / Mariano /
This canvas, which retains its original frame, was painted around 1789 as a pair to a portrait of Charles IV to mark the couple`s ascent to the throne, referred to by the crown, sceptre and ermine mantle. Maella later added the sash of the Order of María Luisa, founded by the Queen in 1792, and simplified the hair ornament to take the form of a jewel with attached feather.
Painted in Aranjuez, this portrait depicts the eldest daughter of Charles IV and María Luisa de Parma. Born in 1775, in 1785 the Infanta married Prince Juan de Braganza, the future Juan VI of Portugal. She died in 1830. This is one of Maella’s finest portraits as well as a perfect example of the delicate refinement of court portraiture at this period.
This is a preparatory sketch for the painting of the main altarpiece of the Chapel of Saint Anthony at Madrid´s church of San Francisco el Grande. It was part of the decoration of the church promoted by King Carlos III, which was completed in 1781. Seven court painters, all members of the Academy, were commissioned to carry out one of the most important decorative projects of that period, between
Maella realizó para la escalera de la Casita del Príncipe de El Escorial una serie de nueve lienzos con asuntos históricos. Relacionado con este encargo encontramos esta escena que muestra el momento (1385) en el que Pedro González de Mendoza cede su caballo al Rey Juan I de Castilla, para que huya durante la batalla de Aljubarrota en la que los portugueses derrotan a los castellanos.
At a harbour with ruins in the background, a young woman wearing an annoyed expression gathers the catch accompanied by a handsome sailor in a Phrygian cap who gestures authoritatively towards the young fishermen. This a sketch for a tapestry cartoon executed in 1784 by Zacarías González Velázquez for the Pieza de Damas at the Palace of El Pardo.
At a small Mediterranean harbour with a fortress in the background, a prosperous gentleman examines the fish a beautiful fisherwoman offers him, while an elderly woman seems to have greater expectations of this promising transaction. This is a sketch for the tapestry cartoon executed by Zacarías González Velázquez for the Pieza de Damas at the Palace of El Pardo.
Bacchus, the god of wine, is the figure traditionally associated with Autumn. Accompanied here by a satyr with a wineskin, he leans on a barrel and raises a goblet of wine in a pose inspired by the classical marble statue of the Resting Satyr -then in La Granja palace and now in the Prado- after an original by Praxiteles. In the background several companions carry a drunken Silenus.
The series devoted to the Four Seasons was possibly commissioned from Maella by Charles IV to decorate the Platinum Room in the Casa del Labrador in Aranjuez, although in the end the Four Seasons executed by the French painter Anne-Louis Girodet were hung there. Maella chose the figure of the goddess Flora, accompanied by a cherub, for his allegory of Spring.
This is a sketch for one of the frescoes in the cloister of Toledo Cathedral depicting a scene from the life of the Toledan saint. Leocadia refused to make sacrifices to Hercules, represented by the statue on the pedestal, as a result of which the Roman Praetor, seated on the right, sentenced her to death. The luminous, vibrant and transparent technique and the movement of the figures betray the i
Inside a house set in a snow-covered, nocturnal landscape, a peasant and his wife warm themselves by the fire next to a table laid with supper. The scene may allude to the myth of Hades and Persephone that is connected with this season, during which Persephone lives in the Underworld with Hades, her abductor, refusing the food he offers her to keep her in his realm.
Disguised as a peasant woman accompanied by reapers, the Earth goddess, Ceres, is shown with her attributes, the torch and a sheaf of corn. The lightning in the sky may allude to Zeus, her brother and lover by whom she bore a daughter, Persephone, who was abducted by Hades and spent part of the year in the Underworld and the other part with her mother. This myth gave rise to the Seasons.
Outside the entrance to the same fortress that can be glimpsed in the background of Fisherfolk, the gentleman now embarks with his elegantly dressed new wife, whom he has taken away from her old life. She is admired by the young women and criticised by her spurned suitors.This is a sketch for the tapestry cartoon executed by Zacarías González Velázquez for the Pieza de Damas a
Sebastián Aparicio (1502-1600) was born in La Gudiña (Orense) and first worked as an agricultural labourer. In 1533 he went to Mexico where he became a landowner then entered the Franciscan Order in 1574. In 1789 was beatified for his missionary work and various miracles are attributed to him. Maella depicts him at work in the countryside.
