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Lot description
RAMÓN BAYEU Y SUBIAS Zaragoza 1746 - Aranjuez 1793 Immaculate Conception Oil on canvas Dimensions 166 x 114 cm The discovery of this unpublished Immaculate Conception allows a new work to be added to Ramón Bayeu's catalogue, while also highlighting the close artistic ties he maintained with his older brother, Francisco Bayeu, whose compositions he replicated on numerous occasions. This painting is directly inspired by an etching signed by Ramón himself in 1778, which reproduces an original composition by Francisco Bayeu, as indicated by the double authorship inscribed on the lower edge of the print: “Fran.co Bayeu delineavit / R.mo Bayeu sculpsit”. The same design was the subject of several versions by Francisco, of which at least two are known: one in the convent of the MM. Jerónimas from El Goloso (Tres Cantos) and another in a private collection. The comparison between these versions and the work studied here allows the latter to be clearly attributed to Ramón Bayeu, not only because of its greater compositional proximity to the engraving—with a larger space around the figure of the Virgin—but also because of the differences in style. The treatment of Marian face, more conventional and neoclassical, shows the influence of Anton Raphael Mengs, compared to the more personalized and rococo model of Francisco. The same is true of the angels, more slender and idealized, with soft features and pearly skin, compared to the plump and rosy types of Francisco. Therefore, the work should be considered a pictorial version executed by Ramón Bayeu based on his brother's original design, probably made around 1778-1780, coinciding with the date of the engraving and the period in which both artists actively collaborated and shared commissions. Their identification not only enriches the known corpus of Ramón Bayeu, but also allows us to appreciate how he developed his own pictorial language within the framework of Spanish Neoclassicism. A comprehensive study carried out by the Institute of Historical-Artistic Studies is attached.