Pueyrredón, Prilidiano (1823-1870)
Retrato de Manuelita Rosas, estudio (Portrait of Manuelita Rosas, study)
1851
Oil on canvas, 37.7 x 30.3 cm
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires
There are no surviving sketches by Prilidiano Pueyrredón, except for unfinished works such as the Oath to the Flag (Udaondo Complex in Luján) and Assassination of Maza (MNBA), so this study adds this quality to its iconographic value. It comes from the collection formed by José Prudencio Guerrico, which has been part of the museum’s heritage since its inauguration. A pencil drawing, not located, was probably the first proposal presented to the federal residents’ commission that commissioned the portrait of Manuelita Rosas for the ball of honor, to which this oil sketch may have later been added.
It presents variations that are not very significant from a formal point of view, but are central to the political reading, since the silk dress is of violet tones instead of the “reddish red” of the final portrait. Pueyrredón‘s suggestion is well known – from the documentation transcribed by Saldías – to tone down the red of the dress in some way. Other variations are the lace handkerchief she holds in her hand, the absence of the right curtain, the addition of a small armchair in the left corner, an open book on the table and the mirror above the vase. There are no variations in the position and gesture of the figure. The face seems younger than the thirty-four she was at that time, well expressed in the final portrait. The workmanship of the sketch, freer, does not recall Pueyrredón‘s objective brushstrokes with little material, but any judgment is difficult since we do not have other period sketches to compare. Solá and Gutiérrez’s proposal to consider it to be the work of Monvoisin has no formal or historical support. (Roberto Amigo | MNBA)
The final portrait:
Pueyrredón, Prilidiano (1823-1870)
Manuelita Rosas
1851
Museo de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires
See also:
• Rosas, Manuelita (1817-1898)