The Adoration of the Magi
Old Master Paintings
Artist | |
---|---|
Culture | Spanish |
Date | 1834 |
Object type | painting |
Medium, technique | oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 193.5 x 130 cm |
Inventory number | 94.2 |
Collection | Old Master Paintings |
On view | Museum of Fine Arts, Second Floor, European Art 1700-1850, Gallery XXVIII |
The romanticist painter Alenza y Nieto is considered one of Goya’s most talented followers. ln this work, the tragically short-lived artist recreated a favoured subject of his idol: majas, that is, young girls dressed in lavish clothes looking out from a balcony onto the street. ln the nineteenth century, this was the colloquial name given to the young inhabitants of Madrid’s outskirts. The elderly woman behind them is Celestina, a familiar character from classical Spanish literature. The old procuress would arrange dates for young people – in most cases for money. ln the painting, she is whispering something in the ear of the still shy-looking girl: she is probably recommending to her a young man watching from the street.
Nyerges, Éva, Spanish Paintings, A Szépművészeti Múzeum gyűjteményei/The Collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, 2008, p. 206-207, no. 96.
This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.