Helena Almeida: 'Seduzir' [To Seduce, 2002] (detail)

Collection

Juan Bautista Trúpita

Image caption
RAFAEL DÍAZ DE BENJUMEA

Juan Bautista Trúpita

  • 1881
  • Oil on canvas
  • 126,5 x 103 cm
  • Cat. P_206
  • Comissioned from the artist in 1881
By:
Javier Portús

The portrait is dated thirteen years after the sitter had left his post as Governor of the Banco de Espana and Benjumea most probably based the painting on an earlier work. That is suggested by a certain lack of expression in the face, not typical of a portrait with a live sitter. In his series of portraits of the governors, Benjumea followed a similar composition: he portrayed them standing three-quarter length, with one of their arms bent, resting on something (in this case a chair) and the other stretched out, holding a kerchief or, in this painting, some papers. They are depicted standing in front of an architectural feature, such as the fluted pilaster on the right. In this way he created more decoratively colourful images than later works in the series. The picture has been praised for the quality of the head, particularly the colours used, which is in keeping with the wall in the background.

Javier Portús

 
By:
Julián Gállego Serrano, María José Alonso
Rafael Díaz de Benjumea
Seville 1825 - Madrid 1888

Rafael Díaz de Benjumea studied at the Santa Isabel Fine Arts Academy in Seville and specialised in portraits. He worked for the Duke and Duchess of Montpensier in 1849 and submitted his works to the San Fernando Academy and national exhibitions in 1850, 1851, 1856 and 1864, although he was only awarded an honorary mention. He was appointed to the post of Court Painter and recorded court events in which he portrayed groups of the most important dignitaries.  In 1873, he sued the deposed Isabella II of Spain for failing to pay for The Presentation and Baptism of Prince Alfonso, which he had painted ten years earlier. He was also appointed as Commander of the Order of Isabella I of Castile and Knight of Carlos III and of the Holy Sepulchre.

 
By:
Elena Serrano García
Juan Bautista Trúpita (Huércal-Overa, Almería 1815 - Valdeolivas, Cuenca 1873)
Governor of the Banco de España 1866 - 1868

Juan Bautista Trúpita was one of several individuals from shareholders to buy shares in the company formed to build a railway from Aranjuez to Cuenca and Minas de Henarejos, with the aim of fostering trade in the province. He was elected to represent Cuenca in the Spanish Parliament in 1857, 1863 and 1864, and made a lifetime senator in 1864. Bautista Trúpita was a member of the government led by Lorenzo Arrazola and was Minister of The Treasury for a short period, from January to March 1864. He was appointed Governor of the Banco de España in July 1866 and held the post until the 1868 Revolution, which led to his dismissal.

Elena Serrano García

 
 
Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez & Julián Gállego Banco de España. Colección de pintura, Madrid, Banco de España, 1985. Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez, Julián Gállego & María José Alonso Colección de pintura del Banco de España, Madrid, Banco de España, 1988. Vv.Aa. Colección Banco de España. Catálogo razonado, Madrid, Banco de España, 2019, vol. 1. Vv.Aa. 2328 reales de vellón. Goya y los orígenes de la Colección Banco de España, Madrid, Banco de España, 2021.