In my atelier - self-portrait

This is one of Columbano's earliest works and also his first self-portrait. It represents his workspace, where we can see all the tools, equipment and props that might be found in any artist's studio: a lyre, a skull, papers, studies for future paintings and brushes, but also other works painted by the artist. This is the case with the portrait of his nephew Manuel Gustavo, visible in the background, in the centre, and the large pot that the artist has decorated. Through this painting, Columbano enables us to enter briefly into the atmosphere of his daily life. By depicting himself as a young man, with his palette in his hand, engaged in his work and looking directly at us from the front, he also turns himself into our observer.
The vast series of works that Columbano produced further underlined his great versatility. He is mostly remembered as an extraordinary portrait painter, as borne out by several works in the museum’s collection – most notably this magnificent self-portrait, in which a hazy fog represented the Velazquian mirror in which the artist was contemplating himself – although he was also highly skilled and no less interesting in other genres of painting.