Antonio Carnicero Circle

Circle of ANTONIO CARNICERO MANCIO (Salamanca, 1748 - Madrid, 1814).
"School quarrel".
Oil on canvas. Relined of the nineteenth century.
It has a frame of the nineteenth century.
Measurements: 32 x 40 cm; 40 x 48 cm (frame).
The painting represents a costumbrista scene set in the Madrid of the XVIII century, in which the dynamism of the composition and the precision of the detail clearly evoke the style of Antonio Carnicero. In the center of the canvas, two young men are engaged in a quarrel, captured at the moment of greatest tension: the bodies leaning forward, the tense gestures and the agitated clothes convey the immediacy of the conflict.
The painter constructs the urban space with remarkable verisimilitude, typical of the daily life of the enlightened capital. Around the protagonists, a large group of characters congregate to form an expectant crowd.
The light, treated with neoclassical clarity, softly models the figures and gives depth to the whole, while the palette, dominated by ochers, blues and grays, contributes to give realism and balance to the composition. The artist demonstrates a keen sense of observation and a moralizing intention that transcends mere anecdote: the painting not only documents a popular episode, but also suggests a reflection on urban customs.
Painter and engraver, son of the baroque sculptor Alejandro Carnicero, he was also an excellent miniaturist. He entered the San Fernando Academy in Madrid at the age of ten, and accompanied his brother Isidro to Rome. He remained in the Italian capital for six years, perfecting his art and participating in various artistic competitions, being awarded prizes in several of them. On his return to Spain he completed his training at the Madrid Academy. During these years he began his collaboration with José del Castillo, with whom he worked from 1775 onwards on cartoons for tapestries for the Royal Factory, destined to decorate the rooms of the Princess of Asturias in the palace of El Pardo. As a draftsman he illustrated the editions of "Don Quixote" published by the Royal Spanish Academy in 1780 and 1782. In 1790 he made preparatory drawings for engravings, among them his outstanding series entitled "Tauromaquia". In 1796 and after previous failed attempts, he was appointed Pintor de Cámara de Carlos IV. Between this date and 1799, he made the illustrations for the book "El Real Picadero", commissioned by Manuel Godoy, which, however, he was unable to finish. He also collaborated with the "Colección de trajes", a series on the popular types in Spain, making between 1778 and 1784 seven illustrations with typical characters of the Balearic Islands. His scenes of dances and walks, or the flights of Montgolfier balloons, are ascribed to the Rococo style. However, in his portraits a greater classicism can be appreciated, as can be seen in his "Portrait of Carlos IV with armor" and in the "Portrait of Manuel Godoy". Among the variety of styles and genres treated by the artist is a work of exceptional character, "The Allegory of Vigilance", with a moral theme, painted with dramatic hallmarks of light and shadow that anticipate the romantic aesthetics of the sublime. In the 1780s Carnicero worked on a series of oil paintings with views of roads and ports, originally commissioned by Carlos III to Mariano Ramón Sánchez, which reflects the sophisticated cultural and enlightened interest of the time in the historical, archaeological and geographical heritage of the country. During these years the painter was sent to Aranjuez as drawing teacher of Prince Ferdinand. In connection with this he served a month in prison in 1806, after the incidents of the so-called "Prince's trial". However, after his imprisonment he agreed to remain in his position as Painter to the King. The usurpation of Joseph I Bonaparte meant his fall from grace, but after the restoration of the government of Ferdinand VII he was restored to his post. Butcher is represented in the Prado Museum, the Municipal Museum of Madrid, the Academy of San Fernando, the Lázaro Galdiano of Madrid and the Museum of Fine Arts of Bilbao, among others.