Painting Detail
Portrait of General Pablo MorilloArtist: Horace Vernet
Medium: Painting, Oil on canvas, 55x46 cm
Date: Between 1820 and 1822
Genre: Portrait
Source: State Museum Fund, 1923
Pablo Morillo was a renowned Spanish general. In his youth he had been a simple shepherd but then joined the navy. In 1815 he headed an expedition to the Spanish colonies in South America. Morillo's military uniform is decorated with many high awards: on his left breast is the Order of Charles III, 1st Class, with below it the Order of Isabella the Catholic, 1st Class, for special services. Vernet, however, ignores the conventions of the official portrait and concentrates our attention not on the regalia, but the sitter's inner fire. We can sense the general's great force and despotic severity, while the face bears the marks of controlled passion.