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

Collection

Manuel Aguirre de Tejada O’Neal y Eulate, conde de Tejada de Valdosera [Manuel Aguirre de Tejada O’Neal y Eulate, Count of Tejada de Valdosera]

Image caption
MANUEL OJEDA Y SILES

Manuel Aguirre de Tejada O’Neal y Eulate, conde de Tejada de Valdosera [Manuel Aguirre de Tejada O’Neal y Eulate, Count of Tejada de Valdosera]

  • 1896
  • Oil on canvas
  • 124 x 90,5 cm
  • Cat. P_198
  • Comissioned from the artist in 1896
By:
Javier Portús

This painting fits in somewhere between those portraits that show governors in rich, official dress and those depicting them in more professional attire. Manuel Ojeda used both styles in his portraits for Banco de España. The sitter here is wearing an elegant frock coat on which the sash of the Order of Charles III can be glimpsed. His right hand rests on a book on the table, where there is also a silver writing-set. The whole image is carefully composed, with a wealth of details. The background is interesting as Ojeda varies the brightness of the light to highlight the figure more strongly.

Javier Portús

 
By:
Julián Gállego Serrano, María José Alonso
Manuel Ojeda y Siles
Seville 1835 - Seville 1904

Manuel Ojeda y Siles was a pupil of Antonio María Esquivel. He took part in national fine arts exhibitions with "costumbrist" and historical paintings, though he earned most renown for his portraits of famous personages of his time. In 1860 he was given an honourable mention for two paintings themed around the war in Africa.

 
By:
Elena Serrano García
Manuel Aguirre de Tejada O´Neal y Eulate, Count of Tejada de Valdosera (Ferrol, A Coruña 1827 - Madrid 1911)
Governor of the Banco de España 1895

Manuel Aguirre de Tejada O’Neal y Eulate studied Law and Philosophy at the Central University of Madrid. In 1854 he was appointed as Section Head of the Civil Government office in Cuba, and he specialised in overseas affairs during his time on the island. On his return to Spain in 1857, he became a member of parliament for the Liberal Union Party, representing the district of Ferrol. He was re-elected in 1859, 1863 and 1865 for the districts of Ferrol and La Coruña. In 1862 he shifted his sympathies to the Moderate Party.

He gave up politics following the Revolution of 1868, but returned to support Cánovas in the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. At that time, he joined the Conservative Party. In reward for his services, King Alfonso XII granted him the title of Count of Tejada de Valdosera. In 1876 he became a senator for the province of La Coruña, and was a member of the committee that drew up the draft wording of the Constitution of 1876. In 1877 he was appointed a senator for life.

He was Minister for Overseas Territories from January 1884 to November 1885 in the government led by Cánovas. During that period, he had to intervene in the Grand Antilles crisis following the abolition of slavery. In September 1895 he was made Governor of the Banco de España, though he stepped down in December to take up the position of Minister for Grace and Justice. He was in that post when Cánovas was assassinated and he remained in it until October 1897.

He was also Chairman of the Court of Contentious Administrative Affairs (1891), Chairman of the Council of State (1899), Chairman of the Senate (1900), a member of the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Science from 1892 onwards and Ambassador to the Holy See from 1904 to 1905. He was made a Gentleman-in-Waiting in 1865 and was awarded the order of the Toisón de Oro ['Golden Fleece'].

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.