Antonio Muñoz Degrain - Lovers of Teruel [1884]

Antonio Muñoz Degrain - Lovers of Teruel [1884], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Dying of love is a theme often drawn from legendary literature, and was recurrent in nineteenth-century Spanish painting. Beginning with the story Juan Yagüe found in the Archives of the Moot Halls of Teruel, Degrain depicts the impossible love between Isabel Segura and the impoverished nobleman, Diego de Marsilla, which occurred in 1212. The painter chooses the tragic outcome of the two lover's passion: in the dark interior of the church of San Pedro in Teruel, the body of Diego de Marsilla lies wrapped in his warrior's garb. It rests on a casket covered with roses and laurels in homage to his triumphs as a knight. On his chest rests the head of his beloved, who has just breathed her last breath after kissing the lips of her eternal and impossible love.

The modern manner in which the paint is applied allows the artist to achieve great expressivity. This, and the exciting colours and powerful Mediterranean light are the work's most striking elements. The balanced composition and the adaptation of the figures to the space reveal Degrain's highly correct academicism. This work was acquired for the Prado Museum in 1884 and was later sent to the Museum of Modern Art.

[Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid - Oil on canvas, 330 x 516 cm]

Antonio Muñoz Degrain - Before The Wedding [1882]

Antonio Muñoz Degrain - Before The Wedding [1882], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

A very beautiful study of Isabel de Segura, the protagonist of the nineteenth-century legend of The Lovers of Teruel, which was dramatised in verse by Hartzenbusch. The bride, prepared to marry Rodrigo de Azara, the spouse her father chose for her, wears an expression of profound sadness and desperation at not being able to marry her true love, Diego de Marsilla.

The modernity of Muñoz Degrain's art is especially notable in this work, where the detailed rendering of Isabel's figure contrasts with the loose and faded brushstrokes of the background. Indeed, it is barely possible to make out the silhouettes of the tapestries that decorate the walls, and the jewelry box and vase on the table to the right. This technique comes directly from the artist's admiration of sixteenth-century Venetian painting, in which the purely pictorial quality of the work, its exuberance and colour, are given more importance than the linearity of drawing.

The Prado also has another work by Muñoz Degrain related to the subject of The Lovers of Teruel. The latter was painted in 1884 and presented alongside the present work at the National Exhibition of 1884.

[Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid - Oil on canvas, 119 x 93 cm]