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

Collection

Victorio Fernández Lascoiti

Image caption
RAFAEL DÍAZ DE BENJUMEA

Victorio Fernández Lascoiti

  • 1881
  • Oil on canvas
  • 126,5 x 103 cm
  • Cat. P_221
  • Comissioned from the artist in 1881
By:
Javier Portús

In his series of four portraits for the Governors of the Banco de España gallery, Benjumea stuck to very similar compositions: the sitters were all depicted in official dress before a wall, which is never plain, but features columns, pilasters or mouldings. The use of different backgrounds and items of furniture was one means of establishing a distinction between the portraits. In this case, the sitter is resting his right arm on a console table. Other devices that offered certain variations on the theme (apart from the obvious differences in the faces) were the decorations and insignia, such as the striking sash of Isabella I of Castile across the chest of the sitter.

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
Victorio Fernández Lascoiti Fourquet (Oviedo 1810 - Madrid 1878)
Governor of the Banco de España 1866

From when he joined the Revenue Accounting Office of the Alcalá de Henares Judicial District in 1830, Victorio Fernández Lascoiti had a long career in the Public Treasury. He made his way up the career ladder to the posts of Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Chairman of the Court of Auditors and State Councillor. He held the post of Minister of the Treasury twice, in 1857 and from 1863 to 1864. He was appointed Governor of the Banco de España in April 1866, but only remained in the post for three months.

Elena Serrano García

 
«El Banco de España. Dos siglos de historia (1782-1982)», Banco de España (Madrid, 1982).
Vv.Aa. El Banco de España. Dos siglos de historia. 1782-1982, Madrid, Banco de España, 1982. 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.