Leonardo Alenza

LEONARDO ALENZA Y NIETO (Madrid, 1807 - 1845).
"Beggars".
Oil on canvas.
Another version of this painting was auctioned at Alcalá Subastas on 15 June 2023.
It has craquelure.
Measurements: 35 x 27,5 cm; 53 x 45,5 cm (frame).
Costumbrista themes were Leonardo Alenza's favourite genre. On occasions he adopted a satirical tone, but in his depiction of the most disadvantaged sectors of society he showed delicacy and respect. This is the case in the present scene, in which three beggars shelter from the inclemency of the weather, sheltered in front of an old wall of a dilapidated house. Each character withdraws into his or her own interior. Silent, they withdraw into their thoughts: a boy with his clothes in tatters, a woman emptying her basket and a crestfallen man holding his dog on a leash. Another version of this painting was auctioned at Alcalá Subastas (15-06-2023).
Leonardo Alenza began his training by learning drawing with Juan Antonio Ribera, and attending the colouring and composition classes given by José de Madrazo at the San Fernando Royal Academy. In 1842 he was appointed academician of merit of San Fernando. He specialised in small-format genre paintings, as well as portraits full of life in which he knew how to endow his models with expressiveness and psychological depth. Aureliano de Beruete considered him the most important of the painters influenced by Goya. Leonardo Alenza is widely represented in the Museo del Prado, and also has works in the Romantic and Municipal Museums of Madrid, the Biblioteca Nacional, the Lázaro Galdiano and the Marqués de Cerralbo.