Oil painting, 'Interior of a Spanish Posada', Charles Antoine Joseph Loyeux, 1864

In the centre of the image is a man (proprietor?) dressed in a long white shirt standing with his arms open and in communication with four men seated to his left, the foremost of which gesticulates with his hands as if counting something out on his fingers. A small boy leans out form behind the man in the white shirt. To the right of this group is a group of three women, two seated, one standing. One of the women plays a guitar and looks straight out at the viewer. A chicken and some chicks peck the floor in the foreground and architectural elements of the posada can be seen in the background.

Bequeathed by Joshua Dixon

Bequeathed by Joshua Dixon, 1886

Historical significance: This painting is a fine example of Loyeux’s output. As a pupil of Delaroche, he mainly produced history paintings and was also known for his still-lifes with musical instruments. The present painting depicts a scene in a Spanish inn (posada) and the composition focuses on the innkeeper, dressed in white, defending a young boy, hiding behind him, from an angry customer. Thus type of subject matters, although quite anecdotic, may have been drawn from a so far unidentified literary source. The theatrical composition recalls the influence of Delaroche who was celebrated for his paintings of historical subjects.
Loyeux’s technique and extremely refined brushwork is particularly remarkable in this painting. But the artist was indeed praised by his contemporaries more for being a very skilful copyist rather than a talented artist. He copied for instance Piero della Francesco’s frescoes in Arezzo.
The present painting is nevertheless a good example of the Spanish taste developed by Romanticism and the Realist movement during the 19th century.

History painting, i.e. depictions of non recurring events based on religious, classical, literary or allegorical sources, particularly developed in Italy during the Renaissance (15th-16th centuries). History painting could include religious themes, or depictions of momentous recent events, but the term was most frequently associated with Classical subject-matter. However a renewed impetus was given to religious subjects after the Council of Trent (1545-63), which stipulated new iconographical programmes. The development of art treatises, in which the compositional rules guiding the art of painting were discussed also notably, influenced the evolution of history painting. From around 1600 history painting's principal rivals: still-life, landscape and genre painting began to emerge as independent collectable genres. Furthermore, the Rococo taste for the ornamental in the early 18th century prioritised the decorative quality of history painting, so that subject matters became more entertaining than exemplary. There was a renewed interest in history painting during the Neo-Classical period after which the taste for such pictures faded towards the end of the 19th century when an innovative approach to the image was led by the Symbolists and was developed further by subsequent schools in the early 20th century.

Charles Loyeux (1823-1898) was born in Paris where he became the pupil of the history painter Paul Delaroche. He became friendly with Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), Adolphe Yvon (1817-1893) and Félix Armand Marie Jobbé-Duval (1821-1889) who studied there at the same time. He first exhibited at the Salon in 1842 but also produced many accurate copies in France and Italy. One of his major commissions was the decorations of the church Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Port in Nantes.

This painting is a fine example of Loyeux's history paintings. It depicts the interior of a Spanish inn, with the innkeeper, in the centre of the composition, defending a young boy from an angry customer. Spanish subject matters were praised by Romanticism and the Realist movement during the 19th century.

1051-1886