History painting in Spain in the second half of the 19th Century
The national exhibition of 1887
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24310/re.17.2025.20952Keywords:
National Exhibition, first class medal, second class medal, third class medal, history paintingAbstract
History painting is a genre that has evolved through all periods of art, although its origins date back as far as the Hellenistic period. Its splendour in Europe was achieved in the first half of the 19th century, while in Spain it reached its peak in the second half thanks to the creation of the National Exhibitions, where the first fourteen exhibitions held in that century recorded the highest number of history paintings, both submitted and winners of medals in the different categories. This research aims to analyse the causality of the rise of this genre in the second half of the 19th century in relation to the social, economic, political, historical and artistic circumstances of the country. Specifically, the National Exhibition of 1887 will be analysed in detail, as it was the one in which most history paintings were presented and won medals, paying special attention to those that referred to the historical past of the Spanish nation. In addition, the authorship of these works and the composition of the jury should be taken into account, as well as the trajectory and the competitiveness or affinity between the participating artists and the members of the jury. Analysis of these circumstances, among others, explains many of the winning works or painters, both at the National Exhibition of 1887 and at the other exhibitions held in the 19th century.
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