Considered to be, with good reason, the most beautiful nude in nineteenth-century Spanish painting, this work provides eloquent testimony of the modernity that made Rosales stand out in the Spanish artistic panorama of his time. He would have earned himself a prominent place among the era´s artistic vanguard in Europe if his brilliant career had not been cut short by his premature death. Neither a
The lady depicted here, around 50 years of age, is represented slightly greater than half-length, seated on a chair upholstered in green cloth, with a striking cashmere shawl of vivid colours lying on one of its arms. She is wearing a dark blue velvet dress with a lace mantilla covering her shoulders. Richly bejewelled, she wears a magnificent bracelet and a ring on her right hand, in which she is
A member of a dynasty of artists that began with his grandfather, the sculptor Pablo González Velázquez (1664-1727), Zacarías González Velázquez initially trained with his father, the painter Antonio González Velázquez (1723-94). In 1777, he joined the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, an institution to which he remained tied for the rest
This portrait of the wife of the banker Henry O’Shea reveals the British influence on Madrazo’s fully romantic period. Her social position is indicated by the quality of the fabrics, laces and jewels, and by the elegant arrangement of the hands. The books allude to the culture of this lady, who was a friend to the writer Washington Irving.
This portrait of José Rebolledo de Palafox y Melci (1775-1847), Field Marshal of Zaragoza, commemorates his defense of the city in 1808 when it was besieged by the French during the War of Independence. Palafox became a symbol of patriotic resistence to the invader when he refused to capitulate despite the terrible state in which his city and its defenders found themselves. Goya seems to ha
The finest work of all Gisbert’s production, this impressive painting is also unarguably one of the most beautiful of all 19th-century Spanish history paintings. Moreover, it is one of the greatest political manifestos of all Spanish painting in defense of human freedom crushed by authoritarianism and one of the very few cases in which a clear propagandistic message was directly inspired by govern
In this three-quarters portrait, the lady is standing and slightly turned to the left. Her pose, with interlaced fingers, is very relaxed. Concepción Miramón de Duret´s father, General Miramón, was executed by firing squad alongside the Emperor Maximilian on 19 June 1867. She lived in Rome when this portrait was made. Notable in this portrait of the Countess is her lack of jew
The Triumph of Saint Hermenegild (d. 585) and of the Catholic Church over Arianism. The saint rises up to heaven surrounded by angels carrying the symbols of his origin and martyrdom: the crown and scepter of a Visigothic king, on the left; and the chains and ax of his martyrdom, on the right. On the lower part of the painting are King Leovigildo, dressed in armor, and an Arian Bishop with the cha
El pintor nos presenta en este óleo su fisonomía, sobre fondo neutro, sin ningún elemento que nos revele su condición de pintor. Su imagen relajada y serena aparece representada de tres cuartos y, contrariamente a las fórmulas más convencionales, no mira de frente al espectador, sino que dirige sus ojos hacia el lado derecho. Viste levita oscura, camisa blanca, corbatín y chaleco también oscuro ad
I am still learning, from the Bordeaux Sketchbook G, dates from around 1825-28, and may well be the drawing that best sums up Goya’s spirit in the final years of his life. In fact, it has become a recurrent referent in histories of this artist that cast it as a symbolic self-portrait expressive of the unwavering desire for personal development that led him to continue to set down his new ideas in
This print is part of a series published by the Company for the engraving of paintings from the Royal Palaces, although it was only published after that institution was no longer active. The Company for the engraving of the paintings from the Royal Palaces was one of the Spanish Enlightenment’s major undertakings during the second half of the 18th century. It supervised the reproduction of prints
A liberal like Torrijos, and also exiled to England, José María Cardano was among those who introduced lithography into Spain. As habitual at this period, he included two scenes associated with his subject, the one on the left relating to his execution. The inscription at the bottom refers to the most notable events in Torrijos’s life.
Estupendo retrato realizado según la estética francesa seguida por la mayoría de los miniaturistas portugueses. Fue pintado en 1828, en los primeros años de actividad de Primavera como miniaturista, técnica que pudo aprender de su maestro Faustino José Rodríguez. Primavera, junto a José de Almeida Furtado (1778-1831), activo durante algunos años en Salamanca, Eduardo Lobo de Moura (1817-1887), Ant
Given by Pope Pius IX (1792-1878) to Queen Isabel II of Spain, it reproduces the so-called Flaminian Obelisk in the centre of the Piazza del Popolo in Rome. Its attribution remains uncertain; it may have been made in the circle of the sculptor and mosaicist Benedetto Boschetti, who made high quality souvenirs in the mid-nineteenth century and was awarded a medal at the Great Exhibition in London i