MANUEL CABRAL AGUADO BEJARANO

(1827 / 1891)

MANUEL CABRAL AGUADO BEJARANO Seville (1827 / 1891) "Portrait of Maria del Carmen Sanchez-Arjona, Countess of Alamo", 1866

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated in the lower right corner. With its original frame in carved and gilt wood. This elegant work by Manuel Cabral y Aguado Bejarano reveals his skill in one of the lesser-known facets of his output: that of portrait painter. Although he is best remembered today as a genre painter, the canvas shown here is an excellent example of his skill as a portraitist, producing a composition that brings together all the ingredients of Spanish Romantic painting. His talents brought him various commissions in which he portrayed leading figures of the society of the time, from popular figures of the day, such as the theatre actors Teodora Lamadrid (as Adrienne Lecouvreur) or Julian Romea (as Sullivan), to members of high society, such as the infantas Maria Cristina and Maria de las Mercedes, daughters of the Dukes of Montpensier. In this portrait, dated 1866 and painted during his full artistic maturity, he depicts Dona Maria del Carmen Sanchez-Arjona (1846-1896), 4th Countess of Alamo, born in Villafranca de los Barros (Badajoz); wife of Bernardo Losada y Pastor, 2nd Count of Bagaes. The Count was a wealthy landowner and an influential figure in 19th-century Seville society. He was president of the Casino Sevillano and a member of the Conservative Party, going on to become a deputy in the Cortes for the district of Seville capital and an elected senator for the province of Seville, aligned with the movement led by Canovas del Castillo. In the portrait, Cabral Bejarano depicts the noblewoman full-length, wearing a beautiful blue silk dress with black embroidered lace. She wears long gold sphere earrings and, over her wide neckline, a choker designed as a festoon of gold and coral beads. The ensemble is completed by a demi-parure comprising a brooch and two bracelets. She stands within a room, possibly her Seville residence, before a large opening onto the exterior revealing a balustrade and a beautiful garden with a fountain. She poses beside a console table on which rest some books, a vase of flowers and a piano score for Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, one of the most important bel canto operas of the 19th century. These elements allude to the beauty and youth of the sitter, extolling her refined literary and musical education. Measurements: 206 x 148 cm