Manuel Rodríguez de Guzmán’s work depicts a large group of washerwomen going about their work to the sound of music produced by a man with a guitar in the centre of the composition. Next to them, a maja is gathered on the lap of a soldier who also enjoys the song played by the man. Although these characters are in the centre of the composition, the main role is played by the women who go to the river to wash the clothes of their homes or of the houses in which they serve. The work was uncomfortable from the beginning where, in a forced posture, they tried to clean their cloths for hours, causing back and knee problems.
Collection: Images
Project: 3. Rural world and urban world in the formation of the European identity., 4. Family, daily life and social inequality in Europe., 8. Women and the change for gender equality in Europe.
Chronology: XIX
Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University
Resource type: Image
Format: Oil on canvas (46 x 56 cm)
Source: Museo del Prado (Madrid)
Language: Spanish
Date: 1859
Owner: Álvaro Romero González (Modernalia)
Identifier: P003730
Copyright: Museo del Prado (Madrid)
Abstract: Popular scene around a musician surrounded by washerwomen on the Manzanares river in Madrid
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