Spanish school from the end of the 19th century - beginning of the 20th century.

Spanish school of the late nineteenth-early twentieth century.
"Gallant scene".
Oil on canvas.
Signed (illegible) in the lower corner.
Presents faults in the golden frame.
Measurements: 74 x 61 cm; 103 x 89 cm (frame).

The characters of the Italian Commedia dell'Arte were popularized in the European nineteenth-century painting, finding in each region an own expression. The French school often placed the characters in a natural setting, such as the leafy forest glade shown here: the harlequin spies with a devious attitude on the couple in love, Pierrot and Colombina, to meddle with his own intrigues. The stylistic treatment is typical of the gallant and hedonistic theme, specifying the sumptuous smoothness of the clothes and their colorfulness, as well as the gallant gestures. As for the landscape, it is resolved with rapid brushstrokes based on small intuitive touches that presage the important development of French landscape painting during the second half of the 19th century. The treetops acquire a fluffy appearance, wrapped in subtle chromatic shifts, which confer a highly lyrical character to the scene.