María Dolores Aldama, Marchioness of Montelo (1855). Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz (Spanish, 18
María Dolores Aldama, Marchioness of Montelo (1855). Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz (Spanish, 1814-1894). Oil on canvas. Museo Nacional del Prado.This young aristocrat wears a magnificent black satin and velvet dress trimmed with lace and ribbons, a close-fitting bodice and a full, domed skirt. Her hair is smoothed and parted, with braids wound around her ears and gathered in the back, held in place with a large, bejewelled pin and lace frill. She wears a splendid brooch made of gold, precious stones and pearls, and bracelets and rings. Following the most genuinely Spanish tradition, Madrazo succeeds in reproducing countless nuances from the same colour, so as to translate onto the canvas the texture of the diverse textiles in the clothing of the sitter, executed with an extraordinarily subdued palette and an elegant, aristocratic restraint in her pose. The result is an enormously rich depiction displaying Madrazo´s absolute command over the devices of the portrait genre: the gradation in warm grey tones on the background wall, producing a clean outline of her delicate lace; the sharp contrast between the light flesh tones and the black of her dress; and the delicate modelling of her thin, pale hands. -- source link
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