José Villegas Cordero

JOSÉ VILLEGAS CORDERO (Seville, 1844 - Madrid, 1921).
"The Venetian Senate leaving the hall of the great council".
Watercolor on paper.
Signed and titled in the lower right corner.
It presents faults in the pictorial surface.
Measurements: 30.5 x 45.8 cm; 37 x 52 cm (frame).

In this watercolor, Jose Villegas Cordero recreates a scene of Venetian atmosphere, centered in the exit of the Venetian Senate of the room of the Great Council. The composition brings together a group of figures dressed in historical costumes, highlighting the contrast between the sober black clothes of the senators and the chromatic accents of the character dressed in reddish and orange tones.

The artist, a great connoisseur of history painting and Italian evocative themes, here combines narrative precision and technical freedom in an image of remarkable scenographic sense.

José Villegas trained in Seville with José María Romero and Eduardo Cano, later completing his apprenticeship in Madrid with Federico de Madrazo and through the study of the masters of the Prado Museum. Linked to the circle of Rosales and Fortuny, he developed a painting of great technical virtuosity, focused on genre, orientalist, historical and Venetian themes. He lived for a long time in Rome, where he achieved great prestige among dealers and collectors, and was appointed director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome in 1898 and of the Prado Museum in 1901. He is represented in the Museo Nacional del Prado, the Fine Arts Museums of Seville and Cordoba, the San Telmo Museum in San Sebastian and the Bank of Spain Collection, among other institutions.