Antonio María Esquivel y Suárez de Urbina (8 March 1806 – 9 April 1857) was a Spanish painter in the Romantic style who specialized in portraits.''Arte Español'': Journal of the "Sociedad Española de Amigos del Arte

''Estudio y catálogo de la obra de Esquivel'', by Bernardino de Pantorba (1959)

Biography

Esquivel was born in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

. His father was a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

officer who was killed at the

Battle of Bailén The Battle of Bailén was fought in 1808 between the Spanish Army of Andalusia, led by Generals Francisco Castaños and Theodor von Reding, and the Imperial French Army's II corps d'observation de la Gironde under General Pierre Dupont de l' ...

in 1808.Brief biography
@ MCN Biografías He began his studies at the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Santa Isabel de Hungría The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Santa Isabel de Hungría (''Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Saint Isabel of Hungary'') is located in the Casa de los Pinelo, Casa-Palacio de los Pinelo in central Seville, Spain. It is divided into six sections: ...

in Seville. There, he became familiar with the pictorial techniques practiced by Murillo. In 1831, already married and in need of work, he moved to Madrid and enrolled at the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal acad ...

, becoming a merit scholar. He was also involved in the intellectual life of Madrid and, in 1837, was an active participant in founding the local "Artistic and Literary Lyceum", where he gave classes in anatomy, a subject that he would later teach at the San Fernando Academy. Los poetas contemporáneos

He returned to Seville in 1839, suffering from an illness that left him nearly blind. Deeply depressed, he tried to commit suicide by jumping into the

Guadalquivir The Guadalquivir (, also , , ) is the fifth-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula and the second-longest river with its entire length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is the only major navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable from the Gulf ...

. Afterwards, his friends and colleagues at the Lyceum took up a collection that would enable him to receive treatment from a famous

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...

in France. Thanks to their support, by the end of 1840 he had recovered his vision. His official recognitions include the "Commander's Cross" of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

. In 1843, he was named

Court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

and, in 1847, a Professor at the San Fernando Academy. He was a founding member of the "Society for the Protection of the Fine Arts" and wrote a book on art theory: ''Tratado de Anatomía Pictórica''. He died in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, aged 51. His sons, and , also became painters.

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Esquivel

Biography and appreciation
@

Museo del Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

website
Works on Antonio María Esquivel
in the Biblioteca Digital Hispánica of the

Biblioteca Nacional de España The Biblioteca Nacional de España (''National Library of Spain'') is a major public library, the largest in Spain, and one of the largest in the world. It is located in Madrid, on the Paseo de Recoletos. History The library was founded by ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esquivel, Antonio Maria 1806 births 1857 deaths Spanish romantic painters Portrait painters People from Seville 19th-century Spanish painters Spanish male painters Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando alumni 19th-century Spanish male artists

Biography

References

Further reading

External links