Spanish school ca. 1830.
"Portrait of a lady.
Oil on canvas. In its original canvas.
Measurements: 58 x 45 cm; 68 x 54 cm (frame).
Portrait on indeterminate background of an elegant lady of high class, as it is possible to suppose so much for the dress, decorated with tulle, transparencies and fine lace, as for the earrings and the handkerchief, or for the chains that stand out in her gathered hairstyle. The lady's gaze is firmly fixed on the viewer, which adds character to the work and tells the viewer something about the psychological aspect of the lady.
The quality of the master responsible for the painting is also clear: first, from the economy of means, which keeps the viewer's attention focused on the lady (something to which the neutral background of the painting and the tonal interplay between the dress and the lady's pale skin also contribute); second, from the quality of the drawing used, especially on the face (drawing that predominates over colour and brushstroke, as was usual in 19th-century art derived from the Neoclassicism of the Academies of Fine Arts).
In the 19th century portraiture enjoyed a period of great splendour and varied compositions, thanks largely to the rise to power (political and economic) of a new social class, the bourgeoisie, who were determined to follow the aristocracy, at least in their desire to leave a "trace" and image of their passage through this world and of their social prestige and their economic power and position. Thus, a large number of painters specialised in this genre, although it was worked on by practically all the masters of the time.