He was one of the most active and important members of the family that dominated the art scene in Madrid throughout almost the entire nineteenth century. The Madrazo family included important painters such as José, Ricardo and Raimundo and, by marriage, Mariano Fortuny, as well as historian Pedro de Madrazo. Federico received his early training in Madrid at his father José’s studio and at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he was elected academician before his twentieth birthday. During that period he made some paintings for the Royal Family which were of such quality that they earned him the title of Supernumerary Court Painter in 1833. That same year, he spent some months in Paris, working in Jean-Auguste-Dominque Ingres’s studio. A man of considerable intellect, he took advantage of his return to Madrid to gather a group of friends with shared aspirations — Valentín de Carderera and Eugenio de Ochoa, among others — and founded one of Spanish Romanticism’s most emblematic publications, the magazine El Artista, which first appeared in 1835.
He spent the period between 1837 and 1842 in Paris and Rome, laying the foundations for an international prestige that lasted the rest of his life. During those years, he studied with Ingres and also with Johann Friedrich Overbeck, who became his main stylistic referents — the former for the elegance and the skilful composition of his portraits, and the latter for his treatment of colour and mass, especially in religious compositions.
After Rome, he returned to Madrid, arriving in 1842 with the intention of painting large historical and religious paintings to demonstrate his technical gifts and his intellectual preparation. The market for this type of works was already in other hands, however, and he had to dedicate himself primarily to portraiture. His extraordinary technique, enormous capacity for work, elegance and intelligent manner of flattering his model’s physical appearance without substantially altering reality made him the portrait painter most coveted by Madrid’s high society and one of the greatest of that century in Spain. Consequently, his work constitutes not only exceptional documentation of the likenesses of that period’s leading lights in the Spanish economy, politics and arts, but also of their ideals and aspirations as reflected in the style of his works, their settings, clothing and objects.
Beginning in 1842, he spent most of his time in Madrid, although he often travelled abroad, and even lived for two years in Paris between 1878 and 1880. This part of his life is marked by artistic success and official recognition, which led to important posts in the court’s cultural institutions. In 1843, he was appointed director of painting at the Academia de San Fernando. In 1857, Queen Isabella II made him her First Court Painter, and between 1860 and 1868 he directed the Museo del Prado, a post he held again between 1881 and 1894.
He was one of the most active and important members of the family that dominated the art scene in Madrid throughout almost the entire nineteenth century. The Madrazo family included important painters such as José, Ricardo and Raimundo and, by marriage, Mariano Fortuny, as well as historian Pedro de Madrazo. Federico received his early training in Madrid at his father José’s studio and at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he was elected academician before his twentieth birthday. During that period he made some paintings for the Royal Family which were of such quality that they earned him the title of Supernumerary Court Painter in 1833. That same year, he spent some months in Paris, working in Jean-Auguste-Dominque Ingres’s studio. A man of considerable intellect, he took advantage of his return to Madrid to gather a group of friends with shared aspirations — Valentín de Carderera and Eugenio de Ochoa, among others — and founded one of Spanish Romanticism’s most emblematic publications, the magazine El Artista, which first appeared in 1835.
He spent the period between 1837 and 1842 in Paris and Rome, laying the foundations for an international prestige that lasted the rest of his life. During those years, he studied with Ingres and also with Johann Friedrich Overbeck, who became his main stylistic referents — the former for the elegance and the skilful composition of his portraits, and the latter for his treatment of colour and mass, especially in religious compositions.
After Rome, he returned to Madrid, arriving in 1842 with the intention of painting large historical and religious paintings to demonstrate his technical gifts and his intellectual preparation. The market for this type of works was already in other hands, however, and he had to dedicate himself primarily to portraiture. His extraordinary technique, enormous capacity for work, elegance and intelligent manner of flattering his model’s physical appearance without substantially altering reality made him the portrait painter most coveted by Madrid’s high society and one of the greatest of that century in Spain. Consequently, his work constitutes not only exceptional documentation of the likenesses of that period’s leading lights in the Spanish economy, politics and arts, but also of their ideals and aspirations as reflected in the style of his works, their settings, clothing and objects.
Beginning in 1842, he spent most of his time in Madrid, although he often travelled abroad, and even lived for two years in Paris between 1878 and 1880. This part of his life is marked by artistic success and official recognition, which led to important posts in the court’s cultural institutions. In 1843, he was appointed director of painting at the Academia de San Fernando. In 1857, Queen Isabella II made him her First Court Painter, and between 1860 and 1868 he directed the Museo del Prado, a post he held again between 1881 and 1894.