Spanish school of the 18th century.

Spanish school of the 18th century.
"Girl with animals".
Pair of oil on canvas. Re-coloured.
Measurements: 36 x 45 cm; 45 x 52 cm (frame).
Pair of oil paintings in which two children's portraits of the same girl are represented. In one of them, the young girl holds a basket with little birds while a dog plays with the ribbon that ties her waist. In the second of the oil paintings, the little girl offers food to a rabbit with black and white fur. Both compositions share the idyllic and innocent character of the child's portrait, emphasising the carefree and happy nature of a young girl who is oblivious to the worries of adult life. In the 18th century, the European portrait scene was very varied, with numerous influences and schools. As in all genres, it was determined by the taste of the clientele, but also by the hand of the artist. It was in this century that a new concept of portraiture was born, one that spread rapidly: the desire to capture the personality of the human being, beyond his or her social rank. The formulas, moreover, became more relaxed with the rise to economic power of social classes whose members did not always belong to the nobility, moving away from the rigid etiquette of the 17th century and the ostentatiousness of the Baroque apparatus. It is this interest in the individual that gives rise to works such as the present one, without any symbolic or scenographic apparatus, or relating to his office or social position.