19th century Andalusian school

Andalusian school of the XIX century.
"Meeting at the apothecary's house", Seville.
Oil on panel.
Signed "J. Jiménez" and located in the lower right corner.
Missing in the frame
Measurements: 67 x 98 cm; 114 x 142 x 15 cm (frame).

In this work the author portrays a scene inspired by the eighteenth century, starring various characters dressed in the fashion of the time, including a clergyman, a majo, several gentlemen, a servant and the apothecary, dressed in a printed costume with a quirky appearance. The scene is set in a large interior magnificently described in every detail, worked with a precious brushstroke and a special attention to the elements that provide narrative.

Traditionally, Spanish painting and literature have been interested in popular customs and types. The arrival of romanticism enlivened this current, bringing to the Hispanic tradition the vision that foreigners had of our people, due to the snobbery of a Europeanizing and liberal national bourgeoisie that, also by foreign influence and under the romantic fashion, turns its eyes to the people and the monuments of the past. This, general in all Spain, will be preferably in Andalusia, for being this land the dreamed goal of foreigners, and where the influence of the vision they had of the Spaniard and his peculiar customs had to be felt more strongly. Thus, of the two fundamental costumbrista schools, the one from Seville is focused on a friendly and folkloric picturesqueness, far from any attempt of social criticism; on the other hand, the one from Madrid is more pungent and harsh, sometimes showing not only the vulgar, but even recreating in torn visions of a typical world of the slums, in which the spirit of criticism is evident.