Francisco Pradilla

FRANCISCO PRADILLA ORTIZ (Villanueva de Gállego, Zaragoza, 1848 - Madrid, 1921)
"Vestal", Rome.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and located in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 82 x 53 cm; 108 x 78 cm (frame).
A young woman with a slender body and gathered hair is shown partially wrapped by light cloths that leave her naked torso uncovered. Her gaze is lost to ours, as the mysterious woman turns her head in a graceful movement to scan the landscape. The evening light snakes across her rosy skin, and her kinky tresses glisten with sienna highlights. With the title of this painting, Pradilla evoked the virginal, arcane beauty of the ancient priestesses of Vesta. The sense of light is outstanding, under which the tight line is softened and blended by small brushstrokes of toned colour.
Francisco Pradilla began his training at the San Luis School of Fine Arts in Saragossa and in 1868 continued at the San Fernando School in Madrid, where he was a pupil of Federico de Madrazo, Carlos de Haes, Carlos Luis de Ribera and Ponciano Ponzano. He completed his training during these years by copying works by the great masters of the Prado Museum. In 1874 he won the Drawing Prize of the "Ilustración Española y Americana" and was awarded a scholarship to study in Rome, where he lived for twenty-three years until his appointment as director of the Prado in 1897. In 1878 he took part in the National Exhibition in Madrid and was awarded the Medal of Honour, the same distinction he won that same year at the Universal Exhibition in Paris. As a result of these successes he received numerous commissions not only from Spain and France, but also from America and other European countries. He travelled around Spain and became interested in depicting genre scenes full of grace and colour, always based on an exceptional mastery of drawing. Although he did not hold individual exhibitions, his works took part in exhibitions and competitions in cities all over the world, such as London, Paris, Berlin, São Paulo and Buenos Aires. He was a member of the Royal Academies of San Fernando and San Luis, the French Academy and the Hispanic Society of New York. Among other decorations, he was awarded the Cross of Isabella the Catholic and the Legion of Honour. His work can be found in the Prado Museum, the Fine Arts Museums of Zaragoza, Santander, Havana and São Paulo, the MACBA, the National Library and the Romantic Museum in Madrid, among others.