Fortuny y Carbo

Fortuny y Carbo, MARIANO, an eminent Spanish painter, was born at Reus in Tarragona, in 1839, and studied in the Academy of Barcelona and in Italy. When Spain declared war against the sultan of Morocco, Fortuny followed the army to Africa, and filled his portfolios with studies of Eastern life. He received a commission for his 'Battle of Tetuan,' which now hangs in the Chamber of Deputies, Barcelona; but the subject was little to his taste; and, disputes having arisen, this large work was never quite completed. It was the domestic and ceremonial aspects of Eastern life that Fortuny chose to portray, and these mainly for their purely artistic possibilities; the painter treating his subjects simply as colour-schemes made up of dusky countenances, and gorgeous draperies, and vivid sunlight. His touch was particularly incisive and dexterous, and the effects he aimed at were those depending on the sparkle and brilliancy of points of potent, infinitely varied colour. He afterwards stayed much in Paris, Granada, and in Madrid, where he studied the great Spanish masters, and married the daughter of Madrazo, the director of the Academy. The preliminaries of his own wedding suggested to the painter his celebrated picture of 'The Spanish Marriage,' and among other of his later works are his 'Book-lover in the Library of Richelieu' and 'Academicians choosing a Model.' He also left some etchings of Eastern subjects. He died at Rome, 21st November 1874. See monographs by Davillicer (illus. Paris, 1875) and Yriarte (Paris, 1885).