Attributed to José de Madrazo y Agudo (Spanish, 1781--1859)
The sun chariot
Oil on canvas
113 x 51 cm (44.5 x 20.1 in)
Private collection
Helios, in ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god and personification of the Sun, often depicted in art with a radiant crown and driving a horse-drawn chariot through the sky. He was a guardian of oaths and also the god of sight. More on Helios
José de Madrazo y Agudo (1781–1859)
Jesus in the House of Annas, c. 1803
Oil on canvas
Height: 176 cm.; Width: 226 cm.
Royal Collection; Museo de Arte Moderno
Annas was appointed by the Roman legate Quirinius as the first High Priest of the newly formed Roman province of Iudaea in AD, just after the Romans had deposed Archelaus, Ethnarch of Judaea, thereby putting Judaea directly under Roman rule.
Annas appears in the Gospels and Passion plays as a high priest before whom Jesus is brought for judgment, prior to being brought before Pontius Pilate. More on Annas
This religious scene with its life-size figures, is treated in the sober manner usually applied to scenes from Roman history. It was the first major painting produced by Madrazo whilst training in Paris under Jacques-Louis David, and earned him an increase in his grant from Charles IV, enabling him to continue his studies in Rome. More on this painting
He was born in Santander, and began his studies at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. After 1803, he studied in Paris where he painted Jesus in the house of Annas (1803, Prado). He later applied for and received a government stipend to study in Rome.
José de Madrazo y Agudo (1781–1859)
La muerte de Viriato/ The Death of Viriatus, Chief of the Lusitanians, c. 1807
Oil on canvas
Height: 307 cm (10 ft); Width: 462 cm (15.1 ft)
Museo del Prado
Viriathus was the most important leader of the Lusitanian people that resisted Roman expansion into the regions of western Hispania (as the Romans called it) or western Iberia (as the Greeks called it), where the Roman province of Lusitania would be finally established after the conquest.
Viriatus developed alliances with other Iberian groups, even far away from his usual theatres of war, inducing them to rebel against Rome. He led his army, supported by most of the Lusitanian and Vetton tribes as well as by other Celtiberian allies, to several victories over the Romans between 147 BC and 139 BC before being betrayed by them and murdered while sleeping. Of him, Theodor Mommsen said, "It seemed as if, in that thoroughly prosaic age, one of the Homeric heroes had reappeared." More on Viriathus
José de Madrazo y Agudo (1781–1859)
The Greeks and the Trojans Fighting over the Body of Patroclus, circa 1812
Watercolor ; Pen ; Prepared in pencil ; Chinese ink ; Squared
Height: 420 mm (16.53 in); Width: 950 mm (37.40 in)
Museo del Prado
The specific episode displayed by Madrazo corresponds to the well-known episode of the Trojan War in which the Achaean troops come to the rescue of the corpse of the young hero Patroclus , beloved and companion in arms of Achilles , who is killed by the Trojan prince Héctor during the war, being avenged later by Achilles himself .
In 1806 he went to Rome, where he completed his training at the Accademia di San Luca and studied Classical art. While there, he had some initial success with his rendering of the death of Viriatus (See above). He also refused to take an oath of allegiance to the new government of King Joseph I. As a result, he and the other Spanish artists living in Rome were effectively held prisoner; first at the Castel Sant'Angelo, then at the Spanish Embassy. There, he got to know the exiled King Carlos IV and his wife, María Luisa de Borbón.
José de Madrazo y Agudo (1781–1859)
Divine and Profane Love, c. 1813
Oil on canvas
198,3 x 149,5 cm
Museo del Prado
Madrazo y Agudo, José de
Eternal Happiness (preparatory sketch), Ca. 1813
Oil on canvas
Height: 64 cm.; Width: 55 cm.
Museo del Prado
This is a modellino for the canvas commissioned by Charles IV during his exile in Rome for the ceiling of a room in the Palazzo di Spagna. The artist and his royal client’s tastes are revealed in the use of quintessentially Raphaelesque models, evident in the face of the woman and the poses of the two small putti holding up the cartouches. More on this painting
Madrazo y Agudo, José de
The Cavalry Soldier Jean-Baptiste Poret-Dulongval, Ca. 1813
Oil on canvas
Height: 200 cm.; Width: 130 cm.
Museo del Prado
A young French Officer, displaying the insignia of the Légion d’Honneur, rests beside his horse. In this portrait, which may have been painted in Rome during the Napoleonic occupation, the officer’s attitude and elegant naturalness reveal the influence of French models, skilfully combined with Madrazo’s own refined technique. More on this painting
The allegories, The Hours of the Day (See below), were painted in 1819 by José de Madrazo in Rome just before his return to Spain, to be used in the decoration of the small palace in Madrid known as Casino de la Reina. This country holding, considered one of “the most prized curiosities of Madrid”, was acquired in 1816 by the city government of Madrid as a gift for Queen María Isabel of Braganza (1797-1818), the second wife of the monarch Ferdinand VII.
José de Madrazo y Agudo (1781–1859)
Allegory of Dawn, c. 1819
Oil on canvas
Height: 87 cm.; Width: 54 cm.
Las Horas del Día, Casino de la Reina
Museo del Prado
The hour of daybreak is incarnated in a young winged female figure of victory. With one hand she pulls back the mantle of night that covers her head, over which dawn´s light radiates, while in the other hand she holds the torch that illuminates the day. At her side a putto holds a swallows, a bird that flies through the morning sky, and a jug lets fall the morning sky, and a jug lets fall the morning dew on the solitary country landscape that spreads out at the feet of the flying figures. More on this painting
José de Madrazo y Agudo (1781–1859)
Allegory of Noon, c. 1819
Oil on canvas
Height: 91 cm.; Width: 55 cm.
Las Horas del Día, Casino de la Reina
Museo del Prado
The canvas, which represents Noon or the Zenith (P004472), shows a young nymph suspended in the air with chrysalid wings. She protects herself from the noonday sun with a stole inflated by the wing, which extends over her head to create a shadow. Close by, a putto holds a solar clock that marks the zenith of the sun. At the feet of the flying figures, there is a stretch of country landscape in which we see a shepherd snoozing near his flock, all protected by the shade of a tree. We get a glimpse of the fold beyond some stylized trees and, in the background, we can just make out the outline of a group of people on a hillock. More on this painting
José de Madrazo y Agudo (1781–1859)
Allegory of Dusk, c. 1819
Oil on canvas
Height: 87 cm.; Width: 54 cm.
Las Horas del Día, Casino de la Reina
Museo del Prado
The Dusk, which illustrates the hour of twilight, in the form of a nymph with the wings of a butterfly, flying across the sky holding the hand of a putto. The nymph is waving good-bye to the last rays of the sun, which is dropping behind the line of the horizon, the sea. In the area the figures are flying over, we can see a country estate in the foreground, where peasants are gathering with their plows after the labor of the day. In the background a coastal landscape stretches out, bathed by the tranquil waters of the sea, with sailboats at sail in the dusk´s las light, which illuminates a cloudscape. Of the entire group, perhaps this is the most evocative of Flaxman´s models, both in the rigorous outline of its design and the harmonious linear forms of the drapes floating in the air. However, this is also an example of the artist´s most careless drawing, with some lack of attention to proportions, and a less-than-felicitous execution of the folds of the robes. By the very nature of his symbology, in this work, Madrazo makes a special effort in his study of twilight. More on this painting
Juan Antonio de Ribera (1779–1860)
Allegory of Night, circa 1819
Oil on canvas
Height: 87 cm (34.2 in); Width: 54 cm (21.2 in)
Las Horas del Día, Casino de la Reina
Museo del Prado
Of his extensive portrait production, the superb effigy of Princess Carini (1809, private collection, Madrid), who has been associated with David and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, and, in a more romantic pose, the portraits of the Marquis of Santa Marta stand out. (private collection, Madrid) and Manuel García de la Prada(1827, Museum of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, Madrid). Of a very different tone is the monumental Portrait of Fernando VII , on horseback (1821, Prado).
José de Madrazo y Agudo (1781–1859)
Fernando VII a caballo, c. 1821
Oil on canvas
Height: 353 cm (11.5 ft); Width: 249 cm (98 in)
Museo del Prado
For many years this large-scale definitive painting was the only painting of Ferdinand displayed to the public in the museum he had founded. He is shown as commander-in-chief of the Spanish armed forces beside an oak tree that refers to the virtues of the good ruler.
In 1809, he married Isabel Kuntze (?-1866), daughter of the late painter Tadeusz Kuntze, who was also staying in Rome. Four years later, King Carlos appointed him court painter; a largely honorary title, considering the circumstances, although he did produce numerous portraits. He lost this position in 1815 when the troops of Joachim Murat entered the Papal States in an effort to unify Italy under French control, prompting King Carlos to abandon his exile.
In 1818, after the Restoration, he returned to Madrid with his paintings. Once there, he occupied himself by arranging and cataloguing the collection at the newly established Real Museo de Pinturas y Esculturas (now the Museo del Prado), on behalf of King Fernando VII. The catalog included lithographs of the paintings, marking the first major use of this technique in Spain.
José de la Revilla (1796–1859)
Cain and his family after the divine curse, c. 1838
Oil on canvas
Height: 133 cm (52.3 in); Width: 105 cm (41.3 in)
Museo del Prado
In 1823, he was named Director of the San Fernando academy and, in 1838, became Director of the Museo del Prado; a position he held until 1857 when he resigned in the face of some Royal criticism. He died in Madrid, aged 78, having amassed a large private art collection, which later passed into the hands of the Marqués de Salamanca and, after his death in 1883, became dispersed.
José de Madrazo y Agudo (1781–1859)
Sagrada Familia/ Sacred Family, c. 1839
Oil on canvas
Height: 107 cm (42.1 in); Width: 83.5 cm (32.8 in)
Museo del Prado
In a very close close-up and highlighted by a studied use of light resources, the Virgin Mary appears seated, holding the Child Jesus between her knees , who gently rests her hands on the body of her mother, while linking her gaze with Santa Isabel , who in turn covers the kneeling figure of San Juanito, who delicately places his joined hands on the body of Jesus, establishing an almost sculptural cohesion in the group, magnified by the excessive size of the figures represented. In the background, the absent figure of Saint Joseph contemplates the scene with emotion in the shadows, following traditional iconographic models. More on this painting
He focused on religious and historical themes and, together with José Aparicio, helped to established a movement devoted to patriotic art. His later works were often criticized for being emotionally cold and excessively grandiloquent.
The Madrazo family have been described as one of the most important painting dynasties in Spain, who literally dominated 19th-century painting in Spain. His sons were Federico de Madrazo, a painter; Luis de Madrazo, a painter; Pedro de Madrazo, an art critic and Juan de Madrazo, an architect; while his grandsons were Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta, a painter and Ricardo de Madrazo, also a painter. His grand-daughter, Cecilia de Madrazo married the celebrated Orientalist artist, Mariano Fortuny. More on José de Madrazo y Agudo
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