NO 8 JUAN CARRENO DE MIRANDA

Avilés 1614 – 1685 Madrid
ST JAMES THE GREAT IN THE BATTLE OF CLAVIJO
1660
oil on canvas, 231 × 168 cm

This theme so popular in Spanish art has already been tackled in connection with Tiepolo’s work. This rendition painted by the Madrid court painter is about a century earlier. The saint, with his ghostly black mantle and blurred features, riding a rearing white horse, appears to be an apparition. While the two Saracens trampled on the ground are painted with a certain plasticity, the figure of the apostle who has risen from the dead is made translucently ethereal by the application of the flowing, glazed paint. The horse’s mane, the red belt, the flag and the white shroud are all details which swirl around weightlessly. The master obviously shows a debt to the colours and forms of the Flemish Rubens and Van Dyck.

NO 3 EL GRECO (DOMENIKOS THEOTOKOPOULOS)

THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN c. 1610
oil on canvas, 170 ×112cm

At the night of his capture, Christ “knelt down and prayed: Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.” (Luke 22: 42-43) This angel holding the cup is consubstantial with the cloud on which he descends, while Christ in his red mantle appears before us as the metaphor of the soul preparing to leave the body. Space is also insubstantial around them, the rock seems to recede into the distance, and the apostles, whose unnatural poses indicate their anguished dreams, seem to float. The picture was painted around 1610, and its two closest variants are in the church of Santa Maria in Andújar and in the cathedral in Cuenca.

NO 4 EL GRECO (DOMENIKOS THEOTOKOPOULOS)

Candia 1541 – 1614 Toledo
MARY MAGDALENE
c. 1580 oil on canvas, 156.5 × 121 cm

The Cretan Greek painter El Greco, brought up on living Byzantine traditions, became acquainted with the expressively distorting, transfiguring, anti-Classical art of Mannerism through the works of Tintoretto in Venice and those of Michelangelo in Rome. His Mary Magdalene, possibly painted already in Toledo around 1580, still preserves something of the Venetian ideal of sensuous beauty, which is quite understandable as he spent three years in Titian’s studio.Yet, these affinities only make his distance from Titian’s world even more obvious: El Greco’s Mary Magdalene is transubstantiated by the mystic experience of enlightenment; her long, nervous fingers and extatic expression testify to her soul’s ardent restlessness. Her bluish-purple mantle flares like a flame around her elongated figure.

NO 5 JUSEPE DE RIBERA THE MARTYRDOM OF ST ANDREW

1628 oil on canvas, 209 ×183 cm

Saint Andrew’s sinewy body and suffering profile are strongly illuminated, while the other characters remain in the shade from which only their faces emerge. While the executioners tie the apostle to an X-shaped cross reminiscent of the Greek initial of Christ’s name, the pagan priest, holding a statue of Jupiter, calls on him to renounce his faith. Ribera active in Naples, the centre of the Spanish dominion, executed works which differed from El Greco’s visionary painting: he intensified religious sentiments with a Caravaggesque realism. He brought the legends of the saints within touching distance, making the believer an eye-witness of the events.

NO 6 DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ

Seville 1599 – 1660 Madrid PEASANTS AT TABLE
c. 1619 oil on canvas, 96 × 112 cm

On either side of a modestly-laid table, a youth and an elderly man are engaged in a conversation accompanied by the gestures and mimics of conviction, while the girl seated in the middle attentively pours wine into a stemmed glass. This is all the plot of the picture, which belongs to the art form of “bodegónes” – genre scenes set in a kitchen or tavern. The work was painted by Velázquez at the age of 19 or 20, before he moved from Seville to Madrid at the invitation of the Count of Oliváres. The Caravaggesque character of the picture is very different from the master’s mature style, but the natural simplicity of the depiction, the accurate and penetrating portrayal of the characters show a genius equal to Rembrandt.

No 9 BARTOLOMÉ ESTEBÁN MURILLO Seville 1618 – 1682 Seville –THE INFANT CHRIST DISTRIBUTING BREAD TO PILGRIMS

1678-79 oil on canvas, 219 × 182 cm

Murillo’s prestige, which he gained during his lifetime, reached its peak in the 18th century, when his popularity equalled only Raphael’s. His success can be explained by the delicate sentimentality and everyday religiousness of his works and by his earthbound figures based on Andalusian folk types. The easily understandable content and intimacy of his paintings is transmitted to the viewer by harmonious compositions, warm colours and forms wrapped in vapour. This representative late work was painted in 1678-79 for the refectory of the home for aged priests in Seville. It was commissioned by the canon Don Justino de Neve, a friend and patron of Murillo: he was probably the model for the priest standing in the foreground ready to receive the loaf of bread offered by the infant Christ.

NO 11 FRANCISCO DE GOYA Fuendetodos Aragon

1746 – 1828 Bordeaux

Following from Zurbaran’s painting of the Immaculate Conception we move to one of 18 Century Spain’s most famous and influential artist – Goya. He is considered to be “the last of the Masters”.

He lived during one of most turbulent and confusing times of Spanish history, when Spain was losing its imperial power, during the Spanish inquisition and the Napoleonic invasion which followed the Independence War. All of these and his health problems had a distinct effect on his different styles and subjects he painted about. We are lucky to have 5 paintings in this Gallery from Goya and each is different from the other. Now let’s look at the following painting:
PORTRAIT OF THE WIFE OF JUAN AUGUSTIN CEÁN BERMÚDEZ 1790s MANUELA CAMAS oil on canvas, 121 × 84.5 cm

“The Mona Lisa of our gallery” is one of Goya’s earlier works when he was an established portrait artist. By this time he was financially independent and quite well off from the royal commissions he received, a contrast to his poor beginnings in life.
His portraits were completed in a short period often taking him an hour for one. He was well known for presenting his subject in a less flattering manner, often trying to show true representation of character.

But what do you think of this painting? Do you think she is beautiful?

The knee length portrait shows a lady with powdered hair and a hat. She is wearing a bluish green dress with lace and posy of flowered ribbons in her hair. The hat, the hair and the dress was made fashionable by Queen Maria Antoinette.

Her one hand rests on a sewing box while the other is holding a needle. The red tone of the sewing box attracts the eye to the perfectly painted left hand just to demonstrate his ability to paint the hands of its models, while the one holding the needle looks almost unfinished, perhaps because she was moving it.

The face and hands were painted in a very realistic manner, in Velazquez’s Baroque style who Goya highly admired. However the hat, the dress, and t he neckline is painted in a Rococo style in fast fewer brushstrokes almost impressionistic to create maximum effect. The portrait is painted against a dark background in order to bring out the strong vitality of the sitter. The way he painted the lace around the neckline and the arms gives an impression of lightness and transparency.

Do you think she looks serious?

There is a faint smile on her face and she seems cheerful. She is graceful, elegant and warm and seems that she is smiling with her eyes.

She is assumed to be wife of Cean Bermudaz close friend and patron of Goya. He was a respected art historian and wrote several books on history of Spanish art
Manuela affectionately referred to as La Aragonesa impressed Goya not so much with her beauty but as with her wit. The intelligent smile and warm glance of Señora Bermúdez arouse in the viewer the same affection which the painter harboured for his sitter.
It is rumoured when Bermudez saw his wife’s painting he said that before, he thought he could eventually tame her wife’s spirit but looking at the painting he is sure he wouldn’t be able to. Sure enough the wife left him for another man a year after this portrait was painted.
The next painting shows a different style and subject matter.

No 12-A Scene from Spanish War of Independence

Goya used quick brush strokes to capture a particular moment and for us to feel the tension.
In this painting you can see war, soldiers, civilians, blood shed and death. The background is of purplish brown hills and fire from soldiers’ rifles lighting the middle of the painting. A woman is kneeling and pleading with clasped hands perhaps for her husbands’ life. Under the dark cloudy sky there is an illuminated figure of a man bravely holding his hands wide open towards the sky.

Can you see anything unusual in the sky?

The painting show the civilians are being defeated in the foreground, the man in the background sends a clear message that he will return and be triumphant. The clouds are parting and there is a faint light shining from the blue sky giving a message of hope.

The idea of national independence was seen as romantic and idealistic. This united all the classes and people with different ideologies in Spain against a common foreign enemy, France.
The war of Independence was a popular topic for Goya. The Independence War followed the invasion of Spain by Napoleon. Goya witnessed these scenes in real life. This really moved him and the war had a distinct effect on him. He drew many paintings on war from 1808-1814.He painted about the horrors of war and a faint glimmering of hope. It can be regarded as a painting symbolising the Spanish War of independence.

The painting shows the inequality that existed in society. The French soldiers with guns against the idealism of unarmed Spanish civilians. This was an unequal war, power versus heroism.

NO 12 FRANCISCO DE GOYAFuendetodos 1746 – 1828 Bordeaux THE WATER CARRIER

c. 1810 oil on canvas, 68 × 52 cm

Goya’s two masterpieces, The Water Carrier and The Knife- grinder, which he painted around 1810, were formerly regarded genre pictures depicting typical representatives of these occupations. However, the artist does not depict the setting in detail, a most unusual thing for genre pictures. He places the two figures against a sketchily-executed landscape background, and, using a low vantage point, he consciously makes the robust figure of the girl with the water jug heroic. Recently it has been proposed that Goya with these companion paintings intended to pay a tribute to the anonymous heroes of the guerilla war against Napoleon’s occupying forces: to the girl who brought water for the soldiers, and to the knife-grinder who sharpened the knives, often the exclusive weapons of the fighters.