The Circle of FRANCISCO BAYEU

Circle of FRANCISCO BAYEU (Zaragoza, 1734 – Madrid, 1795); Last third of the 18th century.
“Holy Trinity.”
Oil on paper mounted on wood panel. Features an oil painting on canvas on the reverse side.
Needs cleaning. Needs restoration.
Measurements: 60 x 49 cm.

The work is an oil sketch on canvas conceived as a preparatory study for a large-scale composition, likely intended for a mural or vault decoration. The scene depicts a celestial glory arranged in distinct planes, presided over at the top by the Holy Trinity—God the Father, Christ with the cross, and the dove of the Holy Spirit— while on a lower level appears a holy bishop or Doctor of the Church surrounded by angels and cherubim holding various attributes. The composition has a marked sense of ascent, with figures distributed among the clouds and rendered with quick, fluid brushstrokes—a technique typical of bozzetti intended to define the general layout, lighting, and visual effect of the final work.

From a stylistic perspective, the painting can be linked to the circle of Francisco Bayeu due to the dynamic conception of the scene, the ethereal treatment of the figures and clouds, the warm luminosity, and the sketchy technique that characterizes many of the preparatory studies created for the major religious decorative programs of the second half of the 18th century. Likewise, the organization of the composition—designed to be viewed from a lower vantage point—and the monumental scale of the figures reflect approaches commonly found in the mural decorations executed by Bayeu and his circle. Although it is not possible to attribute the work directly to the master, its formal and technical characteristics allow it to be reliably placed within his artistic sphere, as a probable preparatory project executed by a painter from his circle or workshop.

Based on its formal and technical characteristics, we can associate this work with the circle of Francisco Bayeu. A member of a notable family of artists and the brother of the painters Ramón and Manuel, Francisco Bayeu was also the brother-in-law of Francisco de Goya. He began his training in his native Zaragoza, attending the studio of Juan Andrés Merklein, a painter of Bohemian origin, and the drawing classes of José Luzán Martínez. As early as 1756, he won the Extraordinary Prize from the San Fernando Academy, which earned him a scholarship in 1758 to study for two years at the San Fernando Academy in Madrid. However, Bayeu left the academy just two months later due to disagreements with one of the professors, Antonio González Velázquez. He then returned to Zaragoza, where his financial situation became difficult because the death of his parents forced him to take charge of his family. He then began his career as a painter, carrying out commissions for churches and convents in the city. Around this time, in 1759, he married Sebastiana Merklein, his teacher’s daughter. During these years, he developed a still-youthful artistic style, marked by the influence of Lucas Jordán and Corrado Giaquinto. However, in 1762, Anton Rafael Mengs, the court’s principal painter, visited Zaragoza and offered him the opportunity to work alongside him on the decoration of the new Royal Palace. Thanks to Mengs’s patronage, Bayeu carried out various decorative commissions for the Royal Sites, thereby establishing himself as one of the most prominent painters of the time. Among these early works for the court, the fresco decoration of the vaults in the dining room of the queen’s quarters (“The Surrender of Granada”) and in the antechamber of the Princes of Asturias (“The Fall of the Giants”) are particularly noteworthy. In these works, his Baroque training is still evident, but elements characteristic of his mature style are already apparent, such as the elegance of the figures’ poses, meticulous detail, neoclassical lighting effects, and perfect anatomical rendering. By the 1760s, his neoclassical aesthetic had fully matured, characterized by clean, precise line work and a color palette that plays with the hallmarks of reds and yellows against a background of blues and grays.