SPANISH SCHOOL (19th century) "Portrait of Luis Maria Andri

Oil on canvas Signed and dated in the lower right corner "Cabanes f. 1840". This work has traditionally been attributed to Antonio Cavana y Pastor (1815-1840) Luis Maria de Andriani y Escofet (1773 -1865) was a Spanish military man with a long and distinguished career, although he is above all remembered for one of his most controversial actions: on 6 August 1811 he was entrusted with the government of the castle of Sagunto, but after General Blake's army was defeated in the Battle of Sagunto on 25 October, Andriani surrendered the next day to Marshal Suchet's troops, for which he was widely criticised for having been able to resist for longer. Despite this, the Queen Regent finally awarded him the Grand Cross of San Fernando for his defence of the castle of Sagunto on 20 April 1840. The present work, painted the same year, was surely conceived to commemorate this event, and in it he already appears to be wearing the laurelled cross of San Fernando and with the castle of Sagunto in the background. Measurements: 100 x 81 cm