RAFAEL TEGEO

(Caravaca de la Cruz, Murcia, 1798 – Madrid, 1856)

Portrait of a Lady in a red Shawl

Ca. 1824

Oil on canvas

62.5 x 50 cm

Signed: "Tegeo"

2

LITERATURE:

PÁEZ BURRUEZO, M. Rafael Tegeo, 1798-1856: del tema clásico al retrato romántico. Murcia: Real

Academia de Bellas Artes de Santa María de la Arrixaca, 2014, p. 64.

G. NAVARRO, C. y Cardona, A. (eds.) Rafael Tegeo (1798-1856). Exhib. cat. Madrid: Museo

del Romanticismo, 2019, p. 244-246, cat. 3.

Rafael Tegeo studied at the Sociedad Ecónomica de Amigos del País de Murcia with José

Aparicio and at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. With the financial

support of the Marquis of San Maés in 1824 he was sent as a grant student to Rome where

he studied with Pietro Benvenuti and Vicenzo Camuzini. In 1828 he was made an

academician of the Real Academia de San Fernando with his painting Hercules and Antaeus.

Tegeo was a leading specialist in mythological subjects and worked on the decoration of

the Royal Palace in Madrid, the Casino de la Reina and the Palacio de Vista Alegre. He also

produced some history paintings, notably The Attempt against the Catholic Kings in the Marquis

of Moya’s Tent and Episode in the Conquest of Malaga in the Royal Palace. Above all, however,

he was a celebrated portraitist influenced by classical Greek sculpture and the work of

Raphael. In addition to a number of royal portraits, such as those of the King Consort

Francisco de Asís and Queen Isabel II, for which he was appointed court painter, Tegeo

executed various portraits of artists and members of the highest ranks of the court

aristocracy, including The Duke and Duchess of San Fernando and Don Pedro Benítez and his

Daughter María de la Cruz. He also depicted members of the wealthy bourgeoisie of the day

such as The Barrio Family.

This portrait by Rafael Tegeo (also spelled Tejeo) was painted during the years of the

artist’s training in Rome between 1824 and 1827 when he became captivated by the art of

Raphael and classical antiquity. Dating from his early period and making notable use of a

Neo-classical idiom, Tegeo’s portrait is inspired by the classical Roman busts that he saw in

the Eternal City.