Spanish school of the XIX century.

Spanish school of the XIX century.
"Cortejo".
Watercolor on paper.
Signed "Frances" in the lower right corner.
It has some flaws in the frame.
Measurements: 48 x 29 cm; 60 x 40 cm (frame).

Gallant scene of aristocratic and costumbrista inspiration, typical of the romantic and bourgeois taste of the time. The composition shows a couple in a refined interior. The lady, elegantly dressed with mantilla and lace handkerchief, holds a closed fan while she listens, with a restrained gesture, to the young man who accompanies her. He, dressed in a velvet suit (short jacket, brocade doublet, tight tights and knotted neckerchief), seems to address her with passionate courtesy, in an attitude typical of the love ritual that gives the work its title.

The setting underlines the distinguished tone of the scene: a Louis XV style sofa, resting on a Persian rug, and a wall upholstered with vegetal motifs in gold and cobalt blue tones, in the center of which is a carved cornucopia with mirror and candle, providing an air of intimacy and luxury. In a corner, a guitar leaning against the wall adds a note of melancholy or coquetry to the whole.

The author demonstrates technical skill in the use of watercolor, with a contrasting palette and a fine drawing that precisely defines the textile and decorative details. The lighting highlights the faces and gestures, reinforcing the sentimental narrative of the encounter.

The treatment of the characters and furnishings indicates the influence of Spanish Romantic and Costumbrista painting of the mid and late 19th century, which combined popular themes with an idealized view of urban or aristocratic life. These types of scenes were frequent in salon painting, in illustrated magazines and in the collecting tastes of the nineteenth-century bourgeoisie.