The Friends of the Duchess

This work is a perfect example of a genre of painting known as tableautin, characterized by small-format pictures usually portraying anecdotes from everyday life. Here, León depicts a woman admiring herself in a mirror, accompanied by four male figures who converse and glance at her figure. Made for an upper-class clientele, the playful and suggestive character of the painting served a mostly decorative purpose. León was one of several Spanish artists who traveled to Paris around 1860, where this style of painting was popular among the upper class, and introduced the genre in Spain upon his return.