Marcelino de Unceta y López (22 October 1835 – 10 March 1905) was an artist, illustrator, and painter of Zaragoza and Madrid. Unceta produced historical paintings, especially those of military history, as well as illustrating sketches and posters meant for advertising. He is known for creating in 1879 what is considered the first poster for a bullfight.« ..en 1879 aparece el primer c rtel/nowiki> de toros que fija su fisonomía, en lo sucesivo invariable; era del artista aragonés Marcelino Unceta y presentaba un lance determinado, con más importancia que la letra impresa»
Voz «Cartel», en ''Gran Enciclopedia Rialp en línea''
. His memorable drawings of horses and bulls in his posters made him a well-known artist in Spain of the time.

Biography

Unceta was born in

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

in 1835. He started his artistic education at the Zaragoza School of Fine Arts in 1850, and continued his training at the Madrid School of Fine Arts. Unceta began work as an illustrator for the newspapers. In 1879, he produced his first poster for a bullfight, the art that would give him later fame. He also collaborated in the workshop with his Huescan friend Eduardo Portabella on

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

. Another notable work was Unceta's design of the curtain of the Teatro Principal of Zaragoza circa 1877, which can be seen today in its original location. It illustrates allegorical figures of the

muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

s of drama, who are linked to drawings of famous Spanish authors and actors of the time. Unceta died in 1905, in Madrid.

Artistic style and work

Unceta was a skilled painter of military practices; he made many paintings of battle maneuvers in a careful and realistic style. He also painted many parades. His artistic style was similar to that of the contemporaneous French artist Meissonier. Unceta made a number of " genre works", such as a series of paintings of the Siege of Saragossa of the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

. He was also influenced by the

Romantic movement Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

, such as in his painting "El suspiro del moro" ("The sigh of the Moor", a reference to King Boabdil of Granada). Unceta also painted the

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

s that decorate the central dome of the

Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar :''See Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar (Buenos Aires) for the church in Buenos Aires'' The Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar ( es, Catedral-Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar) is a Roman Catholic church in the city of Zaragoza ...

in Zaragoza; the frescoes depict martyrs and bishops of

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

Gallery

File:Baturro de guardia durante los Sitios de Zaragoza.jpg, ''Baturro'' (a term for an Aragonese peasant) on guard during the Siege of Zaragoza File:Gerpaz.jpg, ''La paz de las Germanías'' ("The Meeting of the Brotherhoods"), a scene from the Revolt of the Brotherhoods

References

External links

"Marcelino de Unceta y López", ''Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Unceta Y Lopez, Marcelino 1835 births 1905 deaths 19th-century Spanish painters 19th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters 20th-century Spanish painters 20th-century Spanish male artists Painters from Aragon Spanish Orientalist painters Artists from Zaragoza