En una composición horizontal, favorecida por el propio formato del soporte, se plasma una llanura con un desnivel en el centro del terreno en el que junto a un bosque de palmeras se alza un aljibe para el riego de los cercanos frutales que se insinúan a la derecha. Entre este palmeral sobresalen cinco ejemplares que con sus altos tronco enlazan y funden las dos franjas horizontales en que está cl
Christ is presented as the Savior of the World, blessing humankind, between Saint John and the Virgin, who turn towards him. The three figures are shown three-quarters under arches with a complex gothic tracery. In the center is a circular skylight with a singing angel leaning out. This is a free copy of the same figures in the polyptych of the Mystic Lamb by Jan and Hubert van Eyck from the Cathe
A portrait of Cardinal Carlos de Borja Cetellas Ponce de León (1664-1733), son of the IX Duke of Gandia. He was one of the most influential personages in Spain during the first half of the eighteenth century and Felipe V´s Main Chaplain. He wears the garb of a Cardinal, with his left hand on the biretta that rests on a red velvet pillow on a table at the right of the composition. On t
We see King Philip IV of Spain (r. 1621-1665) when he was around twenty years old in an austere image filled with references to his status and responsibilities and to the reformist intentions with which he began his reign. The sword on whose hilt his left hand rests and the desk bearing a top allude to the administration of justice and the defense of his kingdoms. The Golden Fleece hanging at his
When describing the work of this prolific painter of still lifes, it is frequently said that Luis Meléndez included only commonplace objects in his canvases; this painting, in fact, offers the exception that proves the rule. Amid the various objects represented here are a porcelain cup and large saucer, or plate, which seem to be East Asian rather than Spanish. Indeed, they may be Cantonese
On June 5, 1625 the Dutch governor of Breda, Justinus van Nassau, surrendered the keys of that city to Ambrosio Spínola, the Genoese general commanding the Spanish tercios (a group of soldiers that included pikemen, swordsmen and musketeers) of Flanders. Breda`s extraordinary strategic importance made it one of the most disputed cities in the Spanish monarchy`s prolonged war against the Uni
A profusion of cooking utensils and hearty meats -game birds fresh from the hunt and not yet dressed, a recently-killed lamb, a calf’s head, and other cuts- are laid out on a work surface, as if the painter had found them thus in a kitchen, awaiting the preparation of a meal. The apparent disorderly informality of the painting’s composition gives it an air of immediacy and lifelikeness, but is in
Célebre por sus escenas de género inspiradas en las obras de Teniers y de Wouwerman que pudo ver en el Museo del Prado, Alenza está considerado como el gran narrador de las costumbres de las clases más pobres y marginadas de la sociedad de Madrid, que retrata con un sentido crítico cercano a Goya. A pesar de su reducido tamaño, esta obra ejemplifica magníficamente ese tipo de pintura dentro de la
Opie depicts his elegant sitter dressed in the fashion of the day and holding a rolled up paper that may be a plan in his right hand. Located in the immediate foreground, the figure stands out strongly against the dark ground, conveying a marked sensation of reality.
Following his appointment as painter to the King in 1623, Velázquez`s principal task was that of portraying the monarch and his circle. In order to do so he primarily made use of two different typologies: bust-length and full-length portraits, in which the sitters are represented standing and close to the picture plane. Among the characteristics that define the latter group are a limited ch
Sobre una explanada, arbustos cobijados por un pequeño promontorio. A la derecha, una construcción, semejante a un aljibe, y detrás, gran extensión de árboles frutales entre los que sobresalen los altos troncos de las palmeras, a la izquierda diseminadas y a la derecha en un bosque más compacto. Fondo montañoso difuminado cuyas cimas se coronan por brumas y nubes bajas en un cielo que torna limpio
Of the equestrian portraits painted for the Hall of Realms, this is the only one with a declaration of authorship. The lower left corner has been a customary place throughout the history of painting for the artist´s signature, and here it bears a sheet of paper. And yet, contrary to our expectations, it is blank. This is the painter´s way of telling the viewer that the originality of his style and
Genaro Pérez Villaamil (El Ferrol, 1807-Madrid, 1854) can be considered the most significant and influential Spanish Romantic landscape painter and an artist who had an intense interest, characteristic of that period, in depictions of cities and their monuments.The small size of the tin plates on which theses scenes are painted allowed Villaamil to work from the motif, as he generally did w
Hunting subjects are rare in Meléndez's work. Here, two multicolored partridges are the composition's main theme. Alongside them, in the foreground, are two cloves of garlic, some paper packages and the onions. In the middle ground, two Alcorcón-style earthenware bowls hold three crockery plates with poppy decorations, probably from Talavera or Puente del Arzobispo. The painter's customary method
This work was, until recently, believed to depict Saint James. This was largely due to its description, by Friar Francisco de los Santos in his Descripción breve del Monasterio de S. Lorenzo el Real del Escorial (1657). However, Friar Francisco de los Santos also noted that the apostle is not represented according to customary iconography, for he is depicted in the manner he would have dres
This work shows a setting on the outskirts of the town of Jaraba, bordering the province of Guadalajara at the southeastern edge of the province of Zaragoza in the Mesa River Cañon between Jaraba and Calmarza. It was painted by Carlos de Haes on his way to the Monasterio de Piedra, one of his favorite places to paint landscapes after he discovered it in the summer of 1856. He had been invit
An in-depth study of Joaquín Inza is yet to be conducted that would allow us to gauge his role and importance in the panorama of Spanish art in the second half of the eighteenth century. Inza is known for his portraits of the royal family and of aristocrats and intellectuals from the period, and is now regarded as an estimable and discrete painter with a precise, austere style, although som