Julio Romero de Torres

Julio Romero de Torres: Símbolo, Materia y Obsesión, exh. cat., Córdoba, 2003, p. 100, illustrated

On the reverse of the relining: inscribed j. ROMERO DE TORRES PINTADO AL TEMPLE, presumably a transcription of the artist's inscription on the original canvas. The canvas has been relined. There are some areas of retouching visible under UV light, notably around her right eye, a 2 by 10cm area in her right forearm, two areas in her arm either side of her left elbow, and in the background to the left and above her head. There are a handful of short (circa 1cm) scratches in the lower centre, a spot of paint flaking in the right of her hair, and areas of craquelure, notably in the crucifix and house in the upper left quadrant. The varnish has yellowed with age, and the work would benefit from professional cleaning and restoration. Held in a Spanish-style gold and black-painted wood and plaster frame.
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In his depiction of the female form Romero de Torres drew on certain key symbols and attributes to evoke an image of his subject that goes beyond the individual to portray a certain type and a quintessentially Spanish spirit. In the present work, painted circa 1910, his depiction of a girl at a well, a pail in her hand and a church in the distance, is an especially fine representation of both faith and purity.

Romero de Torres sets his model in front of the Plaza del Cristo de los Faroles (Square of Christ of the Lanterns) - a much revered location in the artist's native Cordoba. The church in the background is that of the Capuchins Convent. It was a square in the city that the artist incorporated into a number of his compositions. The religious references in the present work chime perfectly with the girl's upright bearing, cool demeanour and forthright gaze.

Formally attired in a high collared white blouse and long skirt with a crimson shawl draped decorously over her right arm and shoulder, tucked in at her waist, the elegantly attenuated fingers of the girl's right hand hold the handle of a pail, while her left hand points backwards, making the association of herself with her Christian beliefs in the form of the calvary and church crystal clear. 

As well as references to the Church, other symbols and attributes that Romero de Torres incorporated into his work included musical imagery, notably the guitar, and fruit - oranges in particular - to evoke courtship, love and lust. But it is his references to water, both overt as in the present work, and more covert - through his depiction of vessels and vases - that feature as prominently in his iconographical scheme.

The elemental link between water as an image of purity and its association with the primacy of Spanish culture was popularised in particular in his painting Fuensanta in which Romero also depicts his model by a well, her arms resting on a metal pitcher. The work was famously featured as the image on the face of the Spanish 100 peseta note after the Second World War (fig. 1).