ANTONIO MARÍA ESQUIVEL Y SUÁREZ DE URBINA, (Seville, 1806 - Madrid, 1857). "Portrait of a Surprised Lady". Oil on canvas. Unsigned. Re-drawn and with a small blow. Measurements: 190 x 143 cm, 202 x 155 cm (frame). Antonio María Esquivel was the most representative and fruitful painter of the Sevillian romanticism, and one of the most outstanding of his time in Spain. His life was a true Romantic plea; he lost his fortune after his father's death and was orphaned and poor. At the age of seventeen he joined the absolutist cause of the Duke of Angoulême and did not live comfortably until he moved to Madrid in 1831. However, in 1838 he returned to Seville, where he lost his sight shortly afterwards. Cured in 1840 he returned to Madrid, where he worked until his death. Trained at the Seville Academy of Fine Arts, he was appointed chamber painter in 1843 and a member of the San Fernando Royal Academy in 1847, contributed to the publications "El siglo XIX" and "El Panorama" and was a member of the Artistic and Literary Lyceum. He taught at the San Fernando Academy in Madrid, which led him to publish the monographs of José Elbo y Herrera el Viejo (1847) and his "Tratado de anatomía práctica" (1848). He was also an art critic and wrote on history painting and the German Nazarenes. As a painter he fully identified with Romanticism, which he expressed through the sentiment and aesthetic correctness of his work. His style, which is partly eclectic, is characterised by a great technical mastery that manages to harmoniously balance the correctness of the drawing and the quality of the colours. Although he dealt with a wide range of subjects, portraiture is an essential part of his career. In addition to his artistic merit, his portraits illustrate the society of his time with historical rigour, without neglecting affective values. He received many commissions for portraits in various formats, and also produced several self-portraits, one of which is in the Museo del Prado. He also executed group portraits, which reflect his fascination with the Dutch Baroque and his corporate portraits. With regard to religious themes, he was a follower of Murillo, in connection with his own status as a Sevillian. His history paintings had a very personal, literary and theatrical character, the result of the Romantic atmosphere in which he lived. His official awards include the plaque of the Siege of Cadiz and the Cross of Commander of the Order of Isabella the Catholic. In 2006, in commemoration of his second centenary, the Seville Academy of Fine Arts, in collaboration with the El Monte Foundation, held a retrospective exhibition dedicated to his work. He is represented in the Prado Museum, the Huesca Town Hall, the Lázaro Galdiano Museum, the Fine Arts Museum in Seville, the Romantic and Naval Museums in Madrid, the National Library and the Santa Cruz Museum in Toledo, among many others.