Great Melodrama

In 1547 the Spanish Duke of Gandia conveyed the corpse of the empress Isabel of Portugal to her burial-place in Granada. It is said that, when he saw the effect of death on the once so beautiful and charming empress, he decided to become a monk.

The Conversion of the Duke of Gandia (1884) is by the famous Spanish history painter José Moreno Carbonero (1858-1942). It’s a perfect constructed melodrama with the desolate duke in the center but concentrating with the light from the left on the casket with the dead body.

Carlos de Viana

Prince Charles Carlos de Viana (1881) by the Spanish painter José Moreno Carbonero (1858-1942).

Even though Carlos de Viana was the eldest son of King Juan II of Aragon and heir to the throne, he was disowned by his father him in favor of his half-brother Fernando “The Catholic.” After a civil war Carlos was forced to retire in a monastery. Carbonero paints him there. Aa isolated resigned young man who has only his books and a dog as companion.
It’s an impressive work by this great Spanish artist.

Foundation

This is one of the typical paintings which can be found in many Latin American public buildings and museums. It depicts the foundation of a town, which means now that of a whole nation.

Here we see the “Foundation of Buenos Aires” (1910). It’s a work by the Spanish painter José Moreno Carbonero (1858-1942) and went as an official present from the Spanish king to Argentina.

Later Moreno Carbonero painted a second version which can be seen in his native city Málaga.