Artwork
El pintor Ventura Miera
El pintor Ventura Miera is an oil painting by the Realist artist Vicente Palmaroli. It dates from 1866 and is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The composition includes a painting, a palette, and paintbrushes, focusing on the act of artistic creation rather than a specific narrative scene.
The work depicts the painter Ventura Miera engaged with the tools of his trade. The composition includes a painting, a palette, and paintbrushes, focusing on the act of artistic creation rather than a specific narrative scene. Created in 1866, the piece serves as a portrait of the artist at work, highlighting the implements essential to his profession. The subject matter centers on the representation of the painter's environment and materials.
Technique & Style
The work is an oil painting executed on canvas, reflecting the academic technique associated with 19th-century Spanish portraiture. It depicts a painter, identified as Ventura Miera, holding a palette and brush, emphasizing his role as an artist within the composition. The formal execution demonstrates careful handling of light and surface texture characteristic of the period, with the medium applied to support the canvas in a standard easel format.
The painting measures 96 cm in height and 73 cm in width, aligning with typical dimensions for portraits of this era. Its stylistic qualities include precise brushwork and a restrained palette, contributing to a realistic yet expressive portrayal of the subject. The artwork is housed in the Museo del Prado, where it remains part of the permanent collection.
The composition and material execution reflect Vicente Palmaroli's academic approach to genre and portrait painting during the mid-1800s.
History & Provenance
The work is held at the Museo del Prado, Madrid, where it is recorded as inventory number P004313.
It has been exhibited at the Museo del Prado in the 19th-century Spanish painting galleries, though specific exhibition catalogues are not detailed in the cited sources.
Overview
Created in 1866, this oil on canvas by Spanish painter Vicente Palmaroli, titled El pintor Ventura Miera, is part of the Prado Museum’s collection. The work presents a solitary figure in a dark suit, seated before a modest table, his hands clasped and his gaze directed inward. The composition is restrained, emphasizing the painter’s tools and the quiet concentration of the artist.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
- Portrait of Paweł Rodakowski, artist’s father
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Portrait of Mikołaj Malinowski (1799–1865)
The Painter Eugène François De Block
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Self Portrait
Portrait of a Man
Self Portrait