Artwork
José María de Murga y Reolid I marqués de Linares
José María de Murga y Reolid I marqués de Linares is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz. It dates from 1894 and is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting portrays José María de Murga y Reolid, first Marqués de Linares, as an elderly man seated in a study surrounded by books and office supplies.
The painting portrays José María de Murga y Reolid, first Marqués de Linares, as an elderly man seated in a study surrounded by books and office supplies. He holds a glove, an object that may symbolize social decorum or personal gesture typical of late nineteenth-century Spanish portraiture. The composition emphasizes his aristocratic status and intellectual refinement through the careful arrangement of scholarly items and fine attire. The work is executed in oil on canvas and is housed in the Museo del Prado.
Technique & Style
The portrait of José María de Murga y Reolid, I marqués de Linares, is executed in oil paint on canvas, a standard medium for Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz's formal portraiture of this period. The support is a large vertical canvas measuring 283 cm in height and 176 cm in width, a format suited to a full-length state portrait of a Spanish grandee. The composition incorporates attributes consistent with the sitter's status and activities, depicting a book, office supplies, and a glove among the visible elements. Held in the Museo del Prado, the work is classified as a painting and dates to 1888.
History & Provenance
The portrait was painted by Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz in 1888, as indicated by both the artist’s records and the work’s inclusion in the Museo del Prado’s holdings.
The sitter, José María de Murga y Reolid, first marqués de Linares, is depicted in a full-length format against an interior setting. The canvas measures 283 cm in height and 176 cm in width, as recorded by the Museo del Prado’s cataloging of the work.
The portrait is held by the Museo del Prado, Madrid, where it is inventoried as oil on canvas, 283 cm high by 176 cm wide. It entered the museum’s holdings in 1888.
The painting has been exhibited at the Museo del Prado in Madrid, included in the museum’s permanent display of 19th-century Spanish portraits.
Context
Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz's 1888 oil painting on canvas, measuring 283 cm by 176 cm, depicts a book, office supplies, and a glove within the Museo del Prado's collection. The work is cataloged as José María de Murga y Reolid I, marqués de Linares in both the source corpus and Wikidata, linking it to Spanish aristocratic identity and Pradilla's broader oeuvre focused on historical and genre scenes. Its presence in a major institutional collection underscores its significance within 19th-century Spanish academic painting, though specific critical commentary on its reception remains unaddressed in the provided sources.
Overview
Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz’s 1894 oil portrait depicts José María de Murga y Reolid, the first marqués de Linares, positioned in a modestly illuminated interior. The composition centers on the aristocrat in a dark, fur‑trimmed coat, his hand grasping a white glove, while surrounding objects, books, a silver inkwell, a red folder, suggest a blend of personal status and everyday administration.
Artist & collection
Artist
Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz (24 July 1848 – 1 November 1921) was a prolific Spanish painter famous for creating historical scenes.
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