Vicente López Portaña (; 19 September 177222 July 1850) was a Spanish painter, considered one of the best portrait painters of his time.

Early life

Vicente López Portaña was born in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

on 19 September 1772. His parents were Cristóbal López Sanchordi and Manuela Portaña Miró. Vicente López began formally studying painting in Valencia at the age of thirteen, he was a disciple of father Antonio de Villanueva, a Franciscan

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

, and he studied at the

Academy of San Carlos An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the ...

in his native city. He was seventeen when he won first prize in drawing and coloring receiving a scholarship to study in the prestigious Academia Real de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. For the following three years in Madrid, he apprenticed with the Valencian painter, Mariano Salvador Maella. Vicente López returned to Valencia in 1794 and subsequently became vice-director of painting at the Academy where he had studied as a boy. In 1795 he married Maria Piquer, they had two sons: Bernardo and

Luis Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

, who were also painters, following their father's style but with little accomplishments. In 1801 López was named President of the Academy of San Carlos.

Court painter

When king Charles IV visited the city of Turia in 1802, the king appointed him an 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 ...

at the same time he gave him some commissions that he executed successfully. He was already well known and regarded when in 1814 López was called to the court of Ferdinand VII, the Spanish king, who appointed him official court painter and received a royal appointment. Shortly thereafter he succeeded

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, an ...

as Royal Court Painter during the reign of

Ferdinand VII Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (the Desired), and af ...

, who also appointed him as drawing teacher of his second wife, Maria Isabella of Portugal, and later of his third wife,

Maria Josepha Amalia of Saxony Maria Josepha Amalia of Saxony (Maria Josepha Amalia Beatrix Xaveria Vincentia Aloysia Franziska de Paula Franziska de Chantal Anna Apollonia Johanna Nepomucena Walburga Theresia Ambrosia; 6 December 1803 – 18 May 1829) was Queen consort of S ...

. In 1817 he was named President 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 centre of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal aca ...

. Vicente López was a prolific painter executing many religious, allegorical, historic and mythological scenes, but he specialized in portraits. During his long career he painted nearly every notable person in Spain during the first half of the 1800s. In 1826, López painted a portrait of

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish Romanticism, romantic painter and Printmaking, printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Hi ...

when the famous master visited the court from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, where the Aragonese painter was then living. Goya was then 80 and would die two years later. It was said that Goya got bored posing for his colleague who was very meticulous and a stickler for detail, and that for this reason the portrait is inferior to others by López. However, for this precise reason, and because of the strong personality of the model this is one of López's most lively and best-known works. Vicente López spent the remainder of his life in Madrid painting portraits of statesmen, academics, and other important figures, as well as dramatic and emotional religious subjects. When he died, in Madrid, he was court painter of Queen

Isabella II Isabella II (, María Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904) was Queen of Spain from 1833 until her deposition in 1868. She is the only queen regnant in the history of unified Spain. Isabella wa ...

. He was seventy eight years old.

Style

Vicente López was a Neoclassicist painter but he retained certain traces of the

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

style. He had the Neoclassical emphasis on masterly drawing, though with less rigidity. López is considered the best Spanish painter of his time, second only to Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes. One of his rivals was Agustín Esteve Marqués. López's style is dominated by the influence of

Anton Raphael Mengs Anton Raphael Mengs (12 March 1728 – 29 June 1779) was a German Neoclassicism, Neoclassical painter. Early life Mengs was born on 12 March 1728, at Ústí nad Labem in the Kingdom of Bohemia, the son of Ismael Mengs, a Danish-born painter wh ...

and the Academicism, and he was unaffected by the romanticism popular at the end of his career. López was very skilled in drawing and using the brush, but he did not achieve the level of genius of Goya. His best works are probably his drawings and small-scale paintings.

Gallery

File:Félix Antonio Máximo López (1742-1821).jpg, Félix Antonio Máximo López, 1820 File: María Pilar de la Cerda y Marín de Resende, duquesa consorte de Nájera (Museo del Prado).jpg, María Pilar de la Cerda y Marín de Resende, 1795 File: María Cristina de Borbón-Dos Sicilias, reina de España.jpg,

Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies (, ; 27 April 1806 – 22 August 1878) was the queen consort of Spain, Queen of Spain from 1829 to 1833 and Queen regent of the kingdom from 1833, when her daughter became queen at age two, to 1840. By virtue ...

, 1830 File: Pedro de Alcántara Álvarez de Toledo y Salm Salm, XIII duque del Infantado (Museo del Prado).jpg, Pedro de Toledo, 13th Duke of the Infantado, 1827 File: Fernando VII - Vicente López.jpg,

Ferdinand VII of Spain Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was Monarchy of Spain, King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (t ...

, File: La reina María Josefa Amalia de Sajonia (Museo del Prado).jpg,

, 1828 File: Ignacio Gutiérrez Solana, veedor de las Reales Caballerizas (Museo del Prado).jpg, Ignacio Gutiérrez Solana, File:Fray Tomás Gascó.jpg, Fray Tomás Gascó, 1794 File: Francisco Tadeo Calomarde.jpg,

Francisco Tadeo Calomarde, 1st Duke of Santa Isabel Francisco Tadeo Calomarde y Arría, 1st Duke of Santa Isabel (10 February 1773 – 19 June 1842) was a Spanish statesman. Biography Calomarde was born in Villel, Aragon, to poor parents. He studied law in Zaragoza, and secured through the ...

, File: Lopez Portaña - Infante Antonio Pascual, Prado.jpg,

Infante Antonio Pascual of Spain Infante Antonio Pascual Francisco Javier Juan Nepomuceno Aniello Raimundo Silvestre of Spain (31 December 1755 – 20 April 1817) was a son of King Charles III of Spain and younger brother of King Charles IV of Spain and King Ferdinand I of t ...

, 1815 File:Vicente López Y Portaña - Portrait of Doña Francisca de la Gándara - WGA13458.jpg, Doña Francisca de la Gándara, 1846 File:Luis Veldrof, aposentador mayor y conserje del Real Palacio (Museo del Prado).jpg, Luis Veldrof, File: El infante Carlos María Isidro de Borbón (Museo del Prado).jpg,

Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain ''Don'' Carlos María Isidro Benito de Borbón y Borbón-Parma (29 March 17886 March 1855) was an Infante of Spain and the second surviving son of King Charles IV of Spain and his wife, Maria Luisa of Parma. He claimed the throne of Spain af ...

, 1823 File: Antonio Ugarte y su esposa, María Antonia Larrazábal (Museo del Prado).jpg, Antonio Ugarte and María Antonia Larrazábal, 1833 File:López Portaña, Vicente - Princess Luisa Carlota de Borbón-Dos Sicilias - Google Art Project.jpg, Princess Luisa Carlotta of the Two Sicilies, 1819 File: López Portaña, Vicente - Juan Gutiérrez de León, Leon The Priest - Google Art Project.jpg, Juan Gutiérrez de León, 1840 File: Ramon Maria de Narvaez by Vicente Lopez 1772 1850.jpg, Ramón María Narváez, Duke of Valencia, 1840s File: Maria Antonietta Borbone Napoli 1784 18061.jpg,

Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily (14 December 1784 21 May 1806) was the youngest surviving daughter of Ferdinand, King of Naples and Sicily, and Maria Carolina of Austria. As the wife of the future Ferdinand VII of Spain, then heir apparent t ...

, File:Francisco I de las Dos Sicilias (por Vicente López Portaña. 1829. Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando).jpg,

Francis I of the Two Sicilies Francis I of the Two Sicilies (; 19 August 1777 – 8 November 1830) was King of the Two Sicilies from 1825 to 1830 and regent of the Kingdom of Sicily from 1806 to 1814. Early life Francis was born the son of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicili ...

, 1829 File: María Amalia of Saxony by López Portaña.jpg,

Princess Amalie of Saxony Amalie Marie Friederike Auguste (10 August 1794 – 18 September 1870), Princess of Saxony, full name Maria Amalia Friederike Augusta Karolina Ludovica Josepha Aloysia Anna Nepomucena Philippina Vincentia Franziska de Paula Franziska de Chan ...

, 1825 File: Isabel de Braganza (Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando).JPG, Maria Isabel of Braganza, early 19th century File: Vicente López Portaña - Portrait of the Marquis of Labrador, Spanish Ambassador to the Congress of Vienna of 1815 - Google Art Project.jpg, Pedro Labrador, Marquess of Labrador, File:Luisa de Prat y Gandiola, luego marquesa de Barbançon (Vicente López).jpg, Luisa de Prat y Gandiola, 1845 File: Manuel González Salmón, por Vicente López Portaña (Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando).JPG,

Manuel González Salmón Manuel González Salmón (18 October 1778, in Cádiz – 18 January 1832, in Madrid), was a Spanish politician and diplomat who served twice as Prime Minister of Spain. Biography He was First Secretary at the Spanish Embassy in Paris from 1816 t ...

, 1826 File: José Gutiérrez de los Ríos (Museo del Prado).jpg, José Gutiérrez de los Ríos, 1849 File: Retrato de D. Maria Cristina de las Dos Sicilias en hábito de carmelita (1834) - Vicente López Portaña.png,

, 1834 File: Retrato de Matías Sorzano Nájera (Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao).jpg, Matías Sorzano Najera, 1834 File:Portrait of General Claude-Anne de Rouvroy, marquis de Saint-Simon-Montbléru..jpg, General Claude-Anne de Rouvroy,

References

*Vicente López Portaña (1772–1850). ''Su vida, su arte, su obra''.(pinturas, dibujos y estampas), by José Luis Diez García, Alfonso E Pérez Sánchez - 1994 Vicente López by E. M Aguilera *
Scholarly articles
in English about Vicente López Portaña both in web an
PDF
@ th
Spanish Old Masters Gallery

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Portana, Vicente Spanish people of English descent Spanish people of Dutch descent Spanish people of Flemish descent 1772 births 1850 deaths Painters from Valencia 18th-century Spanish painters 18th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters 19th-century Spanish painters 19th-century Spanish male artists Court painters