Jenaro Pérez de Villaamil y d'Huguet (3 February 1807 – 5 June 1854) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

painter in the

Romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

style who specialized in landscapes with figures and architectural scenes. He often inflated the scale of the buildings relative to the figures to make them more impressive.

Biography

He was born in

Ferrol, Galicia Ferrol () is a city in the Province of A Coruña in Galicia, on the Atlantic coast in north-western Spain, in the vicinity of Strabo's Cape Nerium (modern day Cape Prior). According to the 2021 census, the city has a population of 64,785, maki ...

. In 1812, he was enrolled at the military academy in

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of S ...

, where he assisted his father, who was a professor there.Briuef biography and works
@ Arte España. He went to Madrid in 1820 to study at the "Reales Estudios de San Isidro" (now part of the Colegio Imperial de Madrid). Three years later, he went to

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

to enlist in the army fighting the "

Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis "The Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis" was the popular name for a French army mobilized in 1823 by the Bourbon King of France, Louis XVIII, to help the Spanish Royalists restore King Ferdinand VII of Spain to the absolute power of which he ha ...

" sent by the

Duke of Angoulême Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ...

. He was wounded and briefly held as a prisoner of war.Brief biography
@ the

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 th ...

website. Afterwards, he remained there to study at the "Escuela de Bellas Artes". In 1830, he went to

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the ju ...

, with his brother Juan (died 1863), who was also a painter, where they decorated the

Teatro Tapia Teatro Alejandro Tapia y Rivera (commonly referred as "Teatro Tapia"), is the oldest free-standing Theater (structure), drama stage building located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is named after Alejandro Tapia y Rivera (1826–1882), a Puerto Rica ...

and remained there for a few more years, working as

scenographer A scenographer or production designer, develops the appearance of a stage design, a TV or movie set, a gaming environment, a trade fair exhibition design or a museum experience exhibition design. The term originated in theater. A scenographer work ...

s.Biography
@ MCN Biografías. Upon his return to Spain in 1833, he made the acquaintance of the Scottish painter David Roberts, who had a decisive influence on his style. Pescadores en la ribera

He settled in Madrid in 1834 and became a member of 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 ...

the following year. In 1840, he was named honorary

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 ...

to Queen

Isabella II Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868. Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the success ...

. During the regime of

Baldomero Espartero Baldomero Fernández-Espartero y Álvarez de Toro (27 February 17938 January 1879) was a Spanish marshal and statesman. He served as the Regent of the Realm, three times as Prime Minister and briefly as President of the Congress of Deputies. ...

, from 1840 to 1844, he left his wife and young child and lived in self-imposed exile in France and Belgium, using artistic affairs as an excuse for his absence. After travelling through Europe, he returned in 1845 and obtained the chair of landscape painting at the Academia, where he later became the director. He returned to Galicia for an extended stay in 1849 and made extensive travels throughout Spain until 1852, when he began to suffer from liver disease. He died in Madrid two years later, aged only forty-seven.

Selected paintings

File:Genaro Pérez Villaamil Village Bullfight.jpg, Village Bullfight (1838) File:Fachada de la catedral. Jenaro Pérez Villaamil.jpg, Facade of the Cathedral (before 1842) File:Genaro Pérez Villaamil The Chapel of the Benavente Family in Medina de Rioseco.jpg, The Chapel of the Benavente Family in

Medina de Rioseco Medina de Rioseco is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Valladolid (province), province of Valladolid, in the autonomous community of Castile and León and Spain. According to a 2011 census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística ( ...

(1842) File:Castillo de Alcalá de Guadaira - Jenaro Pérez Villaamil.jpg, Castle of Alcala de Guadaira (1843) File:El Pórtico de la Gloria de la Catedral de Santiago de Compostela, 1849, Jenaro Pérez Villaamil, Palacio de la Moncloa, Madrid.JPG, Pórtico de la Gloria,

Santiago de Compostela Cathedral The Santiago de Compostela Archcathedral Basilica ( Spanish and Galician: ) is part of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela and is an integral component of the Santiago de Compostela World Heritage Site in Galicia, Spain. The c ...

(1849) File:Jenaro Pérez Villaamil - Asalto a la diligencia.JPG, Attack on the Stagecoach (1850)

Publications

* Jenaro Pérez de Villaamil, with text by

Patricio de la Escosura Patricio de la Escosura Morrogh (5 November 1807–1878) was a Spanish politician, journalist, playwright and author associated with the Romantic school. 1807 births 1878 deaths Spanish male dramatists and playwrights Spanish journa ...

: ''España artística y monumental: vistas y descripción de los sitios y monumentos más notables de España''. París: Alberto Hauser (Imprint of Fain & Thunot); Vol.I 1842, Vol.II 1844, Vol.III 185

References

External links

Lithographs from "España Artística y Monumental"
@ the Dipòsit Digital de Documents,

Autonomous University of Barcelona The Autonomous University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; , es, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona; UAB), is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. ...

.
Pérez Villaamil
@ the Museo de Bellas Artes de La Coruña website.
Works by Pérez Villaamil
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 b ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Perez Villaamil, Jenaro 1807 births 1854 deaths 19th-century Spanish painters 19th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters People from Galicia (Spain) Orientalist painters People from Ferrol, Spain

Biography

Selected paintings

Publications

References

Further reading

External links