Portrait of an elderly Man dressed in the Style of the Reign of Philip III

This interesting pair of canvases reveals one of the most characteristic facets of the work of the Madrid painter José Llaneces, who focused on the production of a type of “period” portrait that was particularly in vogue in the last quarter of the 19th century. In works of this type Llanceses reveals his overriding interest in capturing the expressive intensity of the models’ bony, angular and lined faces; faces that emphasise the vivacity of the expression, concentrated above all in the space between the eyebrows and in the eyes behind their glasses. An agile brushstroke and rich, rapid handling, clearly influenced by the Valencian painter Francisco Domingo Marqués (1842-1920), is used to frame the faces in striking white ruffs that create a sharp contrast of light with the remainder of the dark canvas. This motif adds the final appealing touch to these portraits of characteristic figure types, in this case set in the period of Habsburg Spain. Llaneces painted numerous works of this type for the art market, primarily in Paris and Argentina, for which he produced most of his paintings.