The Spanish Romantics...
7:32 p.m.
09/03/21 - In the Chueca, Madrid, we can find the Museum of Romanticism, an entity focused primarily, although not exclusively, on the painting of Spanish artists of the 19th century.
Let us remember that around 1820 there was a new interest in secondary genres in painting, such as portraits or family scenes as a result of the decline in the representation of historical anecdotes. The collapse of classical art and the appearance of this new, more "modern" theme in question, much more spontaneous in its lines, was attributed to the appearance of an emerging, and economically fortunate, social group interested in this type of painting. If we add that the nobility and aristocrats received this new movement with enthusiasm, everything led to the artists beginning to receive countless commissions for portraits and landscapes.
The Museo del Romanticismo preserves a permanent collection that honors the genre of portraits, whether of figures of the nobility or relatives of the artists.
María Cristina de Borbón, by Valentín Carderera
Technique: oil on canvas
María Encarnación Cueto de Saavedra (Duchess of Rivas), by Federico de Madrazo
Technique: oil on canvas
Children playing with a ram, by Antonio M. Esquivel
Technique: oil on canvas
Technique: oil on canvas
These portraits place the figure facing front or slightly turned. Social status was represented in the jewelry they wore or in the lace of the outfit. Among all those on display, we chose the paintings of women, because they are more representative of the artist's skill in reproducing the folds of silks in dresses, the brilliance of emeralds and, of course, hairstyles and headdresses. In one of them the artist incorporated an object and a curtain, both indicators of the social status of the young sitter. In others, a dark background palette predominates. The message they convey varies: in some cases it is serenity, in others the gaze looks more attentive and in some the hands and the position of the fingers seem to show tension.
María Teresa Orsini (Princesa de Doria), by Valentín Carderera (1922)
Technique: oil on canvas
Technique: oil on canvas
Technique: oil on canvas
Technique: oil on canvas
Undoubtedly the English, French and now Spanish artists of the 19th century reflected the cultural contemporaneity of the moment and laid the foundations for the beginning of the modernity that would be glimpsed in subsequent generations. This Museum is not only an opportunity to see an extensive collection of portraits but also visit a manor house with furniture and household items from the time. As spectators we visit the collection as if transferred in time.
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