Andalusian school; circa 1840

Andalusian school; circa 1840.
"Brawl in the tavern".
Oil on canvas.
Preserves old frame.
It has an apocryphal signature in the lower right corner.
Size: 98 x 126 cm; 104 x 132 cm (frame).
Scene in which the author presents a revolt between men, which is not in its climax but in the moment of tension before the fight takes place. This is a resource that the author creates not only through the postures of the characters but also thanks to the lighting of the scene, keeping many of the areas in a calm semi-darkness. The folk costumes suggest that this is a genre painting. The new genre painting of the 19th century was born as a way of interpreting a growing sense of national consciousness, now present in the middle classes as they moved towards social hegemony. To a certain extent, the painters' concern was to deepen the vision of their country through a language, that of painting, which everyone could understand, thus helping the common people to understand the nature and meaning of their nationality, especially as it had manifested itself in the recent past, still vivid in the memory of the elders. Of the two fundamental costumbrista schools of 19th-century Spain, the Sevillian and Madrid schools, the latter differs from the gentle picturesqueness of the former in its more pungent and harsh vision, sometimes going so far as to depict not only the vulgar, but even indulging in heart-rending visions of a clichéd world of the working class, in which the spirit of criticism is evident.