ENRIQUE MÉLIDA ALINARI (Madrid, 1838-Paris, 1892). "The... Lot 36

ENRIQUE MÉLIDA ALINARI (Madrid, 1838-Paris, 1892). "The Victim and the Executioner".1861. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated in the lower right corner. With restorations. Period frame, with faults. Work awarded with honourable mention at the Bayonne Exhibition of 1864. Medal obtained in the above mentioned contest is enclosed. Measurements: 81 x 68,5 x 5 cm. Enrique Mélida was a Spanish painter and writer, brother of the sculptor and architect Arturo Mélida. He exhibited for the first time at the International Exhibition of Bayonne (1864) presenting the painting "El verdugo y su víctima" (precisely, the painting we present here) and "Dos cabezas de perro" (Two Dog's Heads), obtaining an honourable mention. At the National Fine Arts Exhibition of 1866, he exhibited Santa Clotilde sorprendida por su padre (Saint Clotilde Surprised by her father), Un estudio (A Study) and Un retrato del autor (A Portrait of the Author), works praised by the public and critics alike. From then on he took part in all the national fine arts exhibitions. His painting A Baptism in the Sacristy of Saint Louis, exhibited at the annual Paris Salon, was acquired by the French government. After this he reaped other successes in Vienna, Madrid, and so on. He was a critic for the magazine El Arte en España (which also distributed his lithographs), publishing works on subjects such as the Madrid School, Goya's Desastres de la guerra ("Disasters of War"), Goya's Proverbios ("Proverbs"), a study on the development of the fine arts in Spain and a biography of the painter Víctor Manzano.