Artwork
The Meadow of San Isidro
The Meadow of San Isidro is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist José del Castillo. It dates from 1793 and is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The composition features a carriage and a guitar, elements that signify the leisure activities and social customs associated with this popular festival ground.
José del Castillo's 1785 oil painting captures a specific scene at the Meadow of San Isidro, a traditional gathering place in Madrid. The composition features a carriage and a guitar, elements that signify the leisure activities and social customs associated with this popular festival ground. These objects serve as iconographic markers of the festive atmosphere, representing the cultural identity of the Madrilenian populace during the late 18th century.
By focusing on these details, the work documents a moment of communal recreation, highlighting the intersection of music, transport, and public celebration inherent to the site's history.
Technique & Style
The Meadow of San Isidro is executed in oil paint on canvas, with the support measuring 49 cm in height and 99.5 cm in width.
The handling emphasizes a luminous, atmospheric rendering of the scene, blending delicate figure modeling with broad, descriptive brushwork to convey the bustling festivity of the setting. Stylistically, the composition orchestrates numerous small-scale figures and incidental details, such as a guitar and a carriage, within a sunlit landscape, aligning with the genre’s tradition of depicting popular festivities.
The work’s formal qualities foreground the interplay of light and shadow across the meadow, while the figures’ varied poses and costumes contribute to a sense of animated, everyday life.
History & Provenance
The Meadow of San Isidro is an oil painting on canvas created by José del Castillo in 1785. The work measures 49 cm in height and 99.5 cm in width. It is currently held in the collection of the Museo del Prado. The painting depicts a carriage and a guitar within its composition.
The Meadow of San Isidro is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid. Created by José del Castillo in 1785, the oil painting on canvas measures 49 cm in height and 99.5 cm in width. The work depicts a scene featuring a guitar and a carriage.
The provided sources do not contain specific inventory or accession numbers for the piece, nor do they list any exhibition history.
Overview
José del Castillo, a Madrid‑based painter and engraver, completed The Meadow of San Isidro in 1793. Executed in oil, the work captures a bustling open‑air gathering on a verdant meadow, populated by figures in both elaborate and modest attire, a horse‑drawn carriage, and a small ensemble playing a guitar. The painting is part of the Prado Museum’s collection.
Context
The work belongs to a period when Spanish art was transitioning from strict Neoclassicism to a more decorative Rococo approach, especially in genre scenes depicting everyday life. Castillo’s dual role as painter and engraver placed him at the intersection of courtly commissions and popular visual culture, influencing the painting’s blend of refined technique and convivial subject matter.
Artist & collection
Artist
José del Castillo (14 October 1737, Madrid - 5 October 1793, Madrid) was a Spanish painter and engraver in the Neoclassical style. Many of his paintings were done for tapestries.
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