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.
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