El Cid’s Daughters

Pinazo always had a special liking for this work which, in the opinion of José Francés, was simply a pretext “for showing off two splendid female nudes.” The composition of Las hijas del Cid, or their individual figures, was an oft-repeated subject in the drawings and studies that the painter did time and time again, both for pleasure and for practice. One of these studies (35 x 30 cm) formed part of the consignment sent by the painter that earned him the Medal of Honour in the 1912 Madrid National Exhibition. Because of his predilection for this work, the artist set out to paint it again, ten years after having done so the first time, in order to have it with him when he reached full artistic maturity. He worked on it in different sessions, and continued to improve it during long periods.

The second version of Las hijas del Cid (the one in the possession of the Bank) is larger than the first, which measures 187 x 124 cm. Comparing both canvases, González Martí said, “The aesthetic translation in the second canvas is almost identical, but the execution and technical procedures have completely changed; he wisely knows how to contrast the values of things in them, and subordinate the bothersome work of filling in the details to the qualities [...] In it, the figures do not seem to be so imprisoned by the frame. With intelligence, he is able to surround them with a wider setting. [...] The naked bodies of Doña Elvira and Doña Sol appear to be wrapped in a modeled plasticity. The latter’s features seem to be less sharp in this picture, and perhaps less human, but on the other hand more mysterious and plunged into poetic suffering. The study of the hands and arms is more synthetic and of a morbid turn, and on the feet the outline of the toes is scarcely visible.”