Museo del Prado - History Lab https://historylab.es Fri, 20 May 2022 07:36:47 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://historylab.es/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-icono-historylab-32x32.jpg Museo del Prado - History Lab https://historylab.es 32 32 Íñigo López de Mendoza, 2nd Count of Tendilla and 1st Marquis of Mondejar https://historylab.es/inigo-lopez-de-mendoza-2nd-count-of-tendilla-and-1st-marquis-of-mondejar/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=inigo-lopez-de-mendoza-2nd-count-of-tendilla-and-1st-marquis-of-mondejar Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:18 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/inigo-lopez-de-mendoza-ii-conde-de-tendilla-y-i-marques-de-mondejar/ Portrait of Íñigo López de Mendoza painted by Juan Bautista de Espinosa

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]]> Íñigo López de Mendoza stood out as a great ally of King Ferdinand the Catholic, being captain general of the Kingdom of Granada and participating directly in the War of Granada at the end of the 15th century. After the victory, he was appointed the first governor of Granada, a post he held until the end of his life, combining the coexistence of victors and vanquished with the affairs of running the city, such as administrative and economic matters.
The original work was kept in the former collection of the Duke of Osuna, although its track has been lost, but it appears constantly in the documentation. The copy made by Francisco Díaz Carreño between 1877 and 1878, which is in the collections of the Museo del Prado, is better known today.
Both the portrait itself and the meticulousness with which it complements the setting are outstanding pictorially. It shows the main figure in front of a window, with a grenade emphasising the importance of the conflict in Granada and with significant elements of military command such as the staff in his hand and the helmet resting on the window. Stylistically, Juan Bautista de Espinosa shows the strong portrait painting tradition of the late 16th century, marking out isolated figures and very precise lines in the drawing.

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]]> The dance. Popular customs of the province of Soria https://historylab.es/the-dance-popular-customs-of-the-province-of-soria/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-dance-popular-customs-of-the-province-of-soria Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:43 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/el-baile-costumbres-populares-de-la-provincia-de-soria/ Festive activities of the European peasantry in Early Modern Spain

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]]> Domínguez Bécquer’s scene is set in the Soria village of Villaciervos. In front of the wall of a woodcutters’ house on the right of the canvas is an ox-drawn cart loaded with freshly cut beams of wood. When the work is finished to celebrate the break, two pairs of peasants and another pair of children dance in front of the cart to the beat of a drum played by a local man seated on the far left of the painting, wrapped in the white cloak typical of the village of Villaciervos. Next to him, a woman and a girl smile to the sound of the music. Other villagers watch the dance from the top of a wall or chatting happily by the roadside as they watch the dancers.

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]]> Country tasks or Spring https://historylab.es/country-tasks-or-spring/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=country-tasks-or-spring Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:33 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/faenas-campestres-o-la-primavera/ A group of peasants engaged in rural activities in early modern Europe

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]]> The scene depicted by Fiammingo shows the typical labours of the European peasantry in the second half of the 16th century at a particular time of the year. Various actions can be seen, ranging from gathering and making butter in the foreground, to milking cows for milk in the background, and in the distance, hunting for meat and skins to make coats and grazing. All of this is set in an idealised bucolic environment.

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]]> The 12th Marquise of Villafranca painting her husband https://historylab.es/the-12th-marquise-of-villafranca-painting-her-husband/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-12th-marquise-of-villafranca-painting-her-husband Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:26 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/la-xii-marquesa-de-villafranca-pintando-a-su-marido/ This work by Goya depicts women as artists during the 18th century, thus opening up new perspectives from Women's History

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]]> María Tomasa de Palafox, Marquise of Villafranca, received a careful education under the personal guidance of her mother, María Francisca de Sales Portocarreño, Countess of Montijo. The Countess was secretary for 18 years of the Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, an institution founded in 1775 within the framework of the Real Sociedad Económica Matritense, which was very actively involved in social reform programmes (such as the education of women and the improvement of women’s and inclusive prisons). María Tomasa continued her mother’s work and participated in the activities of the Sociedad Matritense, showing great interest in new pedagogical ideas and scientific development. Thus, they claimed women’s rights outside the discourse of excellence, which accepted equality as valid only for those women who were considered extraordinary for their qualities. However, the artistic, scientific and literary academies did not exclude women, but in practice, few were able to join them. The San Fernando Academy was one of the first to allow women to join, and in 1766 it had ten women painters and an honorary president, the Countess of Fuentes. The Academy frequently placed limits on women’s training in painting and they were not allowed to attend classes in life drawing or nudes, nor were they allowed to deviate from “feminine” subjects such as paintings of flowers or landscapes.

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]]> The industry https://historylab.es/the-industry/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-industry Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:26 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/la-industria/ Goya's work was executed in a different format from the traditional one for the grand staircase of Godoy's palace

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]]> In the 18th century, the enlightened project of the Bourbon Monarchy opened the doors of the guilds to women, eliminating the restrictions that had excluded them until then without incorporating new forms of production. From then on, the first public schools for girls from the lower classes were promoted, giving them an essential role in the tasks “proper to their sex” (those related to textiles). The textile workshops were spaces of sociability and mutual support for women who worked 12-14 hour days in less healthy hygienic conditions than the work suggests. Neither age nor health were clear limits to their involvement in the task of spinning linen, cotton, silk or wool, work that took place in factories in rural areas and, especially, in the domestic sphere. Some women became masters in trades linked to the textile industry, such as cordwainers or weavers, although this may be an exception.

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]]> The washerwomen https://historylab.es/the-washerwomen/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-washerwomen Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:26 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/las-lavanderas/ A group of young women, portrayed by Goya, rest after they have laid out some clothes while waiting for them to dry

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]]> The work of the washerwomen depicted in Goya’s composition shows one of the trades that remained intact in Madrid society until well into the 20th century. They are women who washed for their families, but also for middle- and upper-class people or for institutions such as hospitals and barracks. It was a widespread and low-income profession, as well as physically hard, as it required a stooped position and permanent contact with water. These washhouses were places of female sociability where women shared joys, knowledge, confidences, jokes and laughter. In 1790, a Royal Decree addressed to this group prohibited them from shouting and making obscene gestures to passers-by, which raises the question of male behaviour.

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]]> The money changer and his wife https://historylab.es/the-money-changer-and-his-wife/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-money-changer-and-his-wife Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:26 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/el-cambista-y-su-mujer/ Representation of women's activities in the world of work and economy through the brush of Marinus van Reymerswale

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]]> In the new bourgeois societies, women were a fundamental support for their husbands in the task of collecting and accumulating money. They took part in the accounting of their husbands’ businesses and, in many cases, were in demand as accountants by merchant houses, accustomed as they were to the control of account books. Bourgeois women, without forgetting their role as mothers and wives, developed an economic-administrative activity acting on behalf of their husbands, but also when they were widowed or took over the inheritance of a prematurely deceased father. They handled rents and lent money in a historical phase in which money was an instrument for the accumulation of wealth.

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]]> Market https://historylab.es/market/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=market Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:26 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/mercado/ The play depicts one of the female activities in the world of work and economics around market sales in the Modern Age

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]]> The women were actively involved in the work as saleswomen, as well as in agricultural and livestock tasks and in the transformation of the products generated by the economy. As well as working as poultry, fish or vegetable sellers, they also occupied positions as innkeepers or bakers. The age of the women implied the development of a different activity. The laws, on the other hand, placed limits on the exercise of certain jobs according to age or marital status. This image allows us to approach history from a female perspective, as it makes women visible in areas other than the domestic sphere, carrying out professional activities.

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]]> Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia accompanied by Magdalena Ruiz https://historylab.es/infanta-isabel-clara-eugenia-accompanied-by-magdalena-ruiz/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=infanta-isabel-clara-eugenia-accompanied-by-magdalena-ruiz Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:26 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/la-infanta-isabel-clara-eugenia-acompanada-por-magdalena-ruiz/ This portrait by Alonso Sánchez Coello shows a dual feminine aspect in the context of the courtly or courtly space: the position of those noblewomen who belonged to royalty, and also of those who accompanied them and formed part of the circles of power, occupying the royal offices of the Chamber or the Household.

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]]> The Infanta Clara Eugenia, depicted by Sánchez Coello, is depicted with a portrait of her father Philip II in one of her hands. The Infanta was a woman of great intellectual worth and a great support to her father in the tasks of government, a fact that possibly authorised her to marry at the age of 32, handing her the government of the Low Countries and the duchy of Burgundy, where the Infanta earned the respect of her subjects. On the other hand, Magdalena Ruiz, pictorially depicted as subordinate to the Infanta, was part of the court of the Habsburgs and was considered a royal plaything, valued among the European courts. She was married, widowed and raised two children: the daughter was to become a nun and the son a servant to the king. In addition to being in the service of Joan of Austria (married to John Manuel of Portugal), she was appreciated by Philip II, who wrote several comments about her in letters sent to his daughters during his stay at the Portuguese court.

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]]> The spinners https://historylab.es/the-spinners/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-spinners Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:26 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/las-hilanderas/ Velázquez's work shows an interior of women working in textiles, emphasising their profession through the fable of Arachne

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]]> Velázquez’s work depicts a craft workshop made up of women. In the foreground are the spinners, women of the village who occupy the most important place in the representation, where three generations are shown participating in the work of spinning and reeling the wool. Their bodies convey activity and liveliness as they cooperate in a manual task. In the background are three upper-class women, one of whom focuses her gaze on the mechanical workers. In the 17th century, spinning wheels and spinning were poorly paid jobs that supplied the needs of the weavers’ guilds. Although Velázquez depicts the interior of a possible tapestry factory, the spinning work did not take place inside the factory, but in the house-workshops. At that time, the ordinances of 1561 prohibited women from joining the guild (historiographically increasingly disputed), although their presence in the workshops continued. The master’s wife took over the spinning and was assisted by other women from the age of 12, as they were considered servants since they were denied the status of apprentices.

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