Vida cotidiana - History Lab https://historylab.es Fri, 20 May 2022 07:40:22 +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 Vida cotidiana - History Lab https://historylab.es 32 32 The parish as a central space of social life https://historylab.es/the-parish-as-a-central-space-of-social-life/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-parish-as-a-central-space-of-social-life Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:18 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/la-parroquia-como-espacio-central-de-la-vida-social/ Resource showing the municipal representation highlighting the Church as a central element, reflecting the religious mentality expressed in local symbols

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]]> Once the Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula for Catholicism was over, new churches and parishes were founded, some where there was already a mosque, others in the central areas of the new population centres that arose. This process of parochialisation had the greatest impact on the configuration of the new Christian society. In the Modern Age, rural communities had the parish as their geographical and social centre, a space that reflected, on the one hand, the political and religious order and, on the other hand, the central point from which to orientate themselves: being in the world. The drawings shown are examples that the author of the resource proposes as forms of representation of the local community, that is, of the very conception of space in the form of churches. Gójar and Calicasas (Granada) were depicted in the Ensenada Cadastre (1753-1754) in the same way that Tomás López, as early as 1786-1789, received a sketch for his Relaciones Geográficas: a church surrounded by houses which, like satellites, mark the form of the structure of the space of the municipality or place. All this reflects the prevailing profound mentality of modernity, which imprinted its everyday values on society.

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]]> Plan of the house of María Arenas Romero. Lezuza, 1751 https://historylab.es/plan-of-the-house-of-maria-arenas-romero-lezuza-1751/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=plan-of-the-house-of-maria-arenas-romero-lezuza-1751 Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:18 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/planta-de-la-vivienda-de-maria-arenas-romero-lezuza-1751/ Plan of a house in Lezuza (Albacete) showing the distribution of the upper and lower floors in 1751

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]]> By studying the house and its distribution by rooms, it is easier to understand the way in which most of the life of the neighbours of the late seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth century was spent. It is important to emphasise that the social position and wealth of the owners directly conditioned the location, typology and belongings in their houses. As the author (Hernández, 2016) rightly states: “the house in the Ancien Régime is not a static, closed and immovable entity, but is in permanent construction and interconnected with the world around it”.
The image is a plan of a house in Lezuza (Albacete) of around 107m2 on the ground floor, but most of it is used to house the stables, the hayloft and the courtyard, with just a quarter of the total space reserved for the home and the living quarters in a single body. The separation between the bedrooms and the kitchen consists of an opening, covered only on some occasions with a screen or a door to divide the rooms. The upper floor is left with a space of approximately 27 m2 for the chamber, which used to occupy the upper part of the houses, especially the living area as it is presented here.

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]]> Tavern scenes https://historylab.es/tavern-scenes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tavern-scenes Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:03 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/escenas-de-taberna/ Smokers and other characters depicted by Teniers inside a tavern

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]]> Teniers the Younger depicts the typical scene of smokers in a tavern interior, following the models of Adriaen Brouwer. The artist repeats figures and details from other versions in the composition, with slight variations in the organisation of the space and the configuration of the figures. The villagers in the foreground show a harmonious colour scheme in their clothing. This group represents the different stages of the action, from the preparation to the act of smoking and the pleasure of doing so. Other frequent elements in compositions in this style are the sleeping dog and the pipe mouthpiece on the ground, as well as the exquisite detailing of the vessels and other utensils. The interest of Spanish kings in this type of painting was not only shown by Philip IV and Charles II, but also by the Bourbons of the 18th century, who continued to collect paintings by this artist.

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]]> The sunshade https://historylab.es/the-sunshade/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-sunshade Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:19 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/el-quitasol/ A playful scene of two majos represented by Goya

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]]> The image represents one of the most outstanding tapestry cartoons from the artistic career of the painter Francisco de Goya. The main motif is an elegant young woman being protected from the sun by a majo with an umbrella or parasol. It may have been modelled on the work Vertumnus and Pomona by the French painter Jean Ranc, now in the Musée de Fabre (Montpellier), where Goya transformed the mythological subject into a scene from modern life. The bottom-up perspective view and its format indicate that it was intended to decorate a window shutter. The resulting tapestry hung in the dining room of the Princes of Asturias (the future Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Parma)

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]]> The squabble at the new sale https://historylab.es/the-squabble-at-the-new-sale/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-squabble-at-the-new-sale Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:19 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/la-rina-en-la-venta-nueva/ Social conflict around a sale in 18th-century Spain as depicted by Goya

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]]> Tapestry cartoon depicting a brawl in front of what Goya defines as Venta Nueva. Although its walls are cracked and the cross that crowns it is tilted to one side, with a certain irony it provides a metaphorical sense of the timelessness of human violence. The inn is located at a crossroads, where a variety of characters gather, carriage drivers and muleteers whose attire reveals that they come from different parts of Spain. The golds and clubs thrown on the table indicate the motif of the fight in which the protagonists use all possible weapons (stones, sticks, knives and even a pistol). The theme of the work is reminiscent of similar compositions typical of the genre scenes of the Flemish and Dutch tradition used in the manufacture of tapestries since the 17th century. However, Goya conceived his composition with the grandeur of Italian classicism, and some of the figures and groups are even derived from classical sculpture.

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]]> The kite https://historylab.es/the-kite/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-kite Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:19 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/la-cometa/ Depiction of young people flying a kite by Goya

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]]> The image shows a scene of popular leisure and recreation. According to Goya, the main scene depicts a group of young people who “have gone out to the countryside to throw a kite”. In the foreground, a young man is sitting on the ground smoking, blowing smoke into the air. In the background, several couples are chatting and watching the kite fly, while the seated dog looks at the viewer. The building in the background has been interpreted as an astronomical observatory, a project that was continually discussed during the reign of Charles III. The tapestry resulting from this cartoon hung on the wall cloth between the windows of the dining room of the Princes of Asturias (the future Charles IV and his wife Maria Luisa de Parma) in the Palace of El Pardo.

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]]> The blind man and the guitar https://historylab.es/the-blind-man-and-the-guitar/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-blind-man-and-the-guitar Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:19 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/el-ciego-y-la-guitarra/ The work, painted by Goya, shows a blind man surrounded by a group of blind people playing the guitar in front of them. This musical practice was widespread among the blind, as other portraits of the period show

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]]> The motif of the work depicted by Francisco de Goya shows a blind man accompanied by his guide who sings simple couplets to the sound of the guitar. Dramatic and gruesome in character, its lyrics consisted of the plots of the so-called “coplas de ciego” (blind man’s couplets). Their singing aroused the interest of a varied audience, whose components expressed emotions ranging from the discipline of the elegant gentleman (a “foreigner”, as Goya described in the invoice for the cardboard to the Fábrica de Tapices), to the fascination of the black water carrier or the young woman and the young men of the village. The resulting tapestry hung in the dining room of the Princes of Asturias (the future Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Parma)

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]]> The Madrid fair https://historylab.es/the-madrid-fair/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-madrid-fair Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:19 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/la-feria-de-madrid/ A festive scene in 18th-century Madrid featuring a group of majos painted by Goya

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]]> This composition by Francisco de Goya shows two elegant gentlemen and a lady at a fair in Madrid approaching the stall of a vendor who is obsequiously offering his wares. The merchandise consists of metal containers, pieces of furniture, paintings, mirrors, weapons and second-hand clothes. In the background, the silhouette of the town reveals a church whose dome and towers are reminiscent of those of San Francisco el Grande. The resulting tapestry hung in the dining room of the Princes of Asturias (the future Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Parma)

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]]> The wedding https://historylab.es/the-wedding/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-wedding Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:19 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/la-boda/ Representation of social reality in a couple's early marital scenes

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]]> The scene, portrayed by Francisco de Goya, takes place under the arch of a stone bridge, where a wedding procession is presented in a rather unequal manner. The determined and beautiful young woman is to be married to a fat, ugly but wealthy man. The bride’s father, wearing a threadbare coat, follows the bridal party with an obliging gesture. The bride’s friends, the wenches, smile with malicious envy and the priest seems to laugh at the father, while a young man in profile, perhaps a rejected suitor, watches the procession pass by with an altered gesture. Thus Goya presents the marriages of convenience so denounced by the Enlightenment, as in Fernández de Moratín’s comedy, “El sí de las niñas” (“The Girl’s Yes”). The tapestry of this cartoon was intended for the decoration “of country and jocular matters” on the main wall of Charles IV’s office in the palatial area of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

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]]> Hunting with a lure https://historylab.es/hunting-with-a-lure/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hunting-with-a-lure Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:19 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/caza-con-reclamo/ Representation of hunting techniques in the 18th century

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]]> Depicted by Francisco de Goya at the end of the 18th century, the composition shows a hunting stand with two caged birds (an owl and a goldfinch). The scene is completed by a crouching dog and a net over the tree that frames the group. It was part of Goya’s first commission for the Royal Tapestry Factory of Santa Bárbara in 1774-75. The composition was the invention of Francisco Bayeu, who, according to surviving documents, was in keeping with the monarchs’ use of the Royal Site of El Escorial for hunting during the autumn. The resulting tapestry was intended to decorate the overdoor in the dining room of the Princes of Asturias (Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Parma).

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