European school, 19th century

European school, 19th century.
"Portrait of a Lady, 1875.
Oil on cardboard.
It has repainting, faults and scratches.
It has an illegible signature.
Signed and dated in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 23 x 21 cm; 31 x 26 cm (frame).
In the 19th century, portraiture became the leading genre par excellence in Spanish painting and, therefore, in the case in point, that of the Philippine colonists as a result of the new social structures that were established in the Western world. While official circles gave preponderance to other artistic genres, such as history painting, and the incipient collectors encouraged the profusion of genre paintings, portraiture monopolised the demand for painting intended for the more private sphere, as a reflection of the value of the individual in the new society. This genre embodies the permanent presence of the image of its protagonists, to be enjoyed in the privacy of a studio, in the everyday warmth of a family cabinet or presiding over the main rooms of the house.