Antonio Muñoz Degrain

ANTONIO MUÑOZ DEGRAIN, (Valencia, 1840 - Málaga, 1924).
"Prayer of Isabella the Catholic to her parents".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Good state of conservation. It presents generalized craquelure by the passage of time.
Measurements: 197 x 133 cm, 232.50 x 167.50 cm (frame).

In this imposing painting, Antonio Muñoz Degrain transports us to an intimate and deeply symbolic moment in the history of Spain: the young Isabella of Castile, not yet queen, appears collected in prayer before the tomb of her parents, in a temple that evokes the solemn atmosphere of the Carthusian monastery of Miraflores. The scene, although idealized, seeks to capture the pious spirit and the transcendent destiny of the woman who would later be known as Isabella the Catholic.

The composition takes place inside a church of Gothic and Romanesque architecture, recreated in meticulous detail. The massive columns, the semicircular arches and the filtered light entering from the left envelop the space in an atmosphere of spiritual recollection. In the center of the scene, Elizabeth kneels with her hands on a richly decorated mound, from which rises a faint column of smoke, symbol of prayer and connection with the divine. Her figure stands out not only for its central location, but also for the intensity with which the light envelops her, as if a superior force were already signaling her as the chosen one. The floor of the church is covered by a sea of flowers, which reinforce the idea of purity, devotion and sacrifice. This visual resource, which borders on the theatrical, is not gratuitous: it turns the sacred space into an almost mystical scenario, where the earthly and the spiritual merge. In the distance, in the shadows of the side naves, other female figures can be distinguished, perhaps ladies-in-waiting, silent witnesses to this intimate act.

Muñoz Degrain does not seek here the epic of power or military glory, but an interiorized vision of historical destiny. His Isabel is not yet the monarch who will sponsor peninsular unity nor the one who will support the Columbian enterprise, but a young woman moved by faith, duty and memory. The work, painted in 1887, is part of the romantic historicism that characterized much of the official nineteenth-century Spanish painting. But Degrain introduces a particular lyricism, an attention to detail and an almost symbolic sensibility that distance it from the simple historical account. This painting, monumental in size and ambition, was conceived in a political-cultural context in which Spain sought to reaffirm its Catholic and monarchical roots, especially after the loss of its last colonies. Isabella the Catholic then became not only a historical figure, but also an emblem of an idealized national identity, longed for and perhaps already lost.

Antonio Muñoz Degrain began studying architecture in his youth by his father's decision, although he soon abandoned it for painting. A student at the Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos in Valencia from the age of twelve, he was a disciple of the painter Rafael Montesinos, although his training was essentially self-taught. He participated assiduously in the National Exhibitions of Fine Arts from 1862 to 1915, being his successes in these contests those that would decisively mark his artistic career. In 1862 he received an honorary medal, third in 1864 and second in 1867 and 1871. Called in 1870 to decorate the Cervantes Theater in Malaga, he settled permanently in this Andalusian capital. There he married, and years later he was appointed supernumerary professor of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Telmo (1879). From the Academy, Muñoz Degraín was the teacher of a whole generation of artists, among them the very young Picasso, who would always show him his affection and respect. In 1881 the painter won a first medal at the National with "Othello and Desdemona" (Museu do Chiado, Lisbon), which gave him a government pension to finally make the desired trip to Rome, also visiting several cities in Tuscany and Venice. In Italy he painted his great masterpiece, "The Lovers of Teruel" (Museo del Prado), one of the capital pieces of Spanish painting of the 19th century, which the painter sent to the National Exhibition of Madrid in 1884, obtaining the first medal. From then on, his growing prestige brought him numerous honors and public rewards. He was named Knight of the orders of Isabella the Catholic, Charles III and Alfonso XII, received the medal of honor at the National Exhibition of 1910 and obtained in 1898, on the death of Carlos de Haes, the chair of landscape painting at the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. He was appointed member of that institution the following year, and director in 1901. He was also president of the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid. Muñoz Degraín also reaped notable successes abroad, presenting his paintings to the Universal Exhibitions of Philadelphia (1876), Munich (1883) and Chicago (1893). He is currently represented in the Prado Museum, the Fine Arts Museum of Valencia and others.