Diego Monroy

DIEGO MONROY Y AGUILERA (Baena, 1786-Córdoba, 1856).
"Vase".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Nineteenth century frame.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 63 x 74 cm; 87 x 97 cm (frame).
Diego de Monroy offers us a still life of flowers inherited from the painting of Juan de Arellano, with a magnificent treatment of the qualities, the colours and, especially, the effective tenebrist illumination, which gives the flowers a presence and a three-dimensional aspect that reaches an illusionist level, almost trompe l'oeil. The flowers, in shades of red, ochre and white, emerge from the semi-darkness and are expertly worked; the vase is placed in a wicker basket and is raised on a slightly more illuminated parapet, reinforcing the spatial construction in a naturalistic manner. Diego Monroy y Aguilera began his academic training under his father, although he later continued his training at the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts as a pensioner of the bishop of Córdoba. He then became a pupil of Maella, who commissioned several works for the school for the deaf and dumb in Madrid. Five years after arriving at the San Fernando Academy, he received the title of academician, which he did not receive until 1819, due to the political situation caused by the War of Independence. In 1843 he was made a knight of the Order of Caris III and a year later he was appointed director of the Provincial Museum of Cordoba.