(Rome 1815–1894 Madrid) Portrait of Field Marshal Don Nicolas Miniussir y Giorgeta (Trieste 1794–1868 Valencià), signed and dated (incised) Federico de Madrazo Julio 1843, oil on canvas, 86 x 75 cm, framed, (Rei)

Don Nicolas Miniussir y Giorgeta: The subject of this painting spent his childhood and youth in Trieste, the city of his birth. In 1805, at the age of only 11, he joined the military academy, completing his studies at the age of 15 and bearing the rank of Lieutenant. Miniussir y Giorgeta took part in the Napoleonic Wars and distinguished himself at the Battle of Waterloo in particular. The injury to his left cheek bears witness to a shot which struck him during battle in 1814 and almost cost him his life. Miniussir attended the Congress of Vienna as an envoy for the Spanish throne and remained in Vienna as the Military Attaché at the Embassy until 1820. During his eventful life Miniussir received numerous honours and wears the following in this painting: Commander Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand and the Order of Saint Hermenegild, and other decorations including the Austrian Order of Leopold and the Dutch Military Order of William. Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz: Madrazo was born into a Spanish painting dynasty. Born in Rome, he moved with his parents to Spain in 1819. He received his first artistic training from his father, the painter José de Madrazo y Agudo. The son attended the Royal Academy of San Fernando, becoming a member almost at once. In 1832 he went to Paris to study with Franz Xaver Winterhalter and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. After sojourns in Paris and Rome he returned to Madrid in 1842 where he was appointed court painter to Queen Isabella II. During the 1830’s his oeuvre was predominantly historical paintings but later he increasingly turned to portrait painting. “His exceptional portraits are the result of his keen powers of observation, which led to his becoming the portraitist most frequently engaged by the upper echelons of Spanish society throughout the second third of the 19th century.“ In 1860 he was made Director of the Prado and succeeded his father to become President of the San Fernando Academy. (Thieme-Becker, Künstlerlexikon, Leipzig 1929, Vol. 23, p. 535).