Spanish school, XIX century.

Spanish school, XIX century.
"Gallant scene in the park".
Oil on panel.
Presents apocryphal signature "J.Salas" in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 34 x 24 cm; 61 x 51 cm (frame).
Gallant scene in which a group of young people enjoying peacefully in a park can be appreciated. It emphasizes a feminine figure that leans on a sculpture that reproduces the abduction of Daphne. Her attitude and clothing as well as her interest in a couple formed by a young woman and a soldier gives a second reading to this work. This type of scenes, of gallant and hedonistic theme, cheerful and colorful, worked with a precious and descriptive workmanship, were frequent during the second half of the nineteenth century and spread during the twentieth century, within the context of historicism. They belong to the genre called "de casacones" in Spain, and "tableautin" in France, characterized by works inspired by an idealized past, frequently from the 17th and 18th centuries, normally of small or medium format and destined to an eminently bourgeois clientele. One of the first examples of this genre is "Il Contino", by Mariano Fortuny, dated 1861 and preserved in the National Museum of Art of Catalonia.