111 - JOSE MARÍA RODRÍGUEZ DE LOSADA

JOSE MARÍA RODRÍGUEZ DE LOSADA Seville 1826 - Jerez de la Frontera 1896 Henry III of Castile and Archbishop Pedro Tenorio (Henry III's Overcoat). 1896 Oil on canvas Signed and dated Dimensions 102 x 183 cm The composition depicts one of the most dramatic legendary episodes of the reign of Henry III of Castile (1390–1406), known as “Henry III’s Overcoat.” According to tradition, the monarch, after discovering the opulence in which the nobles of the kingdom lived while the royal treasury was depleted, gathered them in a large hall of the Alcázar and, armed and with a stern expression, summoned the executioner Mateo Sánchez, who placed his instruments of execution before them. Faced with the threat of death, the Archbishop of Toledo, Pedro Tenorio, knelt before the sovereign, pleading for mercy. Rodríguez de Losada masterfully distills the episode down to its essential elements: the monarch vested with authority, the supplicating prelate, the executioner with the axe at the center, and, behind him, the nobles gathered in a state of unease. The coats of arms of Castile and León and the sumptuous palatial setting reinforce the historical and theatrical character of the scene. The work is a remarkable example of history painting from Rodríguez de Losada’s mature period, dated the same year as his death.