The Dying Contrabandista
The Dying Contrabandista is an oil on canvas genre painting by the British artist John Phillip, from 1858. It is held in the Royal Collection.[1]
History and description
Formerly a member of The Clique artistic group, later in his career Phillip concentrated on scenes of Spanish life and was a favourite painter of Queen Victoria.[2]
The canvas portrays a fatally wounded smuggler (Spanish: contrabandista) dying in the arms of his beloved. Other two members of the smugglers gang, stands sentry, looking out of the windows, one of them, at the left, is holding a rifle. The dying's man donkey stands nearby. The theme of a wounded guerrilla had previously been used by David Wilkie in a scene of the Peninsular War.[3] It was displayed the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition of 1858.
It provided inspiration for the 1866 opera The Contrabandista by Arthur Sullivan and F.C. Burnand.[4] The work was acquired by Queen Victoria in 1858 for 650 guineas as a Christmas gift for her husband, Prince Albert. Today the painting remains in the Royal Collection.[5]
References
- ^ Royal Collection
- ^ Royal Collection
- ^ Clarke & Remington p.130
- ^ Lawrence p.105
- ^ Royal Collection
Bibliography
- Clarke, Deborah & Remington, Vanessa. Scottish Artists 1750-1900: From Caledonia to the Continent. Royal Collection Trust, 2015.
- Lawrence, Mark. Anglo-Hispania Beyond the Black Legend: British Campaigns, Travellers and Attitudes Towards Spain Since 1489. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023