Doña Juana la Loca by Francisco Pradilla, national story on canvas and verse

Abstract

Francisco Pradilla achieved extraordinary success with Doña Juana la Loca, the only Medal of Honor in a National Exhibition of Fine Arts (1878), synthesis and culmination of the history painting genre, the beginning of a new way of painting that would mark its further development. The triumph of the painting led the playwright and poet Marcos Zapata to write, the same year, "La reina loca", in which Pradilla's canvas is turned into verse. Published in Novísimo romancero español, this forgotten ballad and a sonnet dedicated to the painter by the journalist Mariano de Cavia are recovered; they illustrate the success of the painting, its reception and scope in other arts, and the sociability between artists. Thus, this essay analyzes the relationship of Doña Juana la Loca with the national story on a double level. First, in the aesthetic and historical framework of the liberal interpretation of the history of Spain by nineteenth-century historiography. Next, the recreation of the canvas in verse is analyzed. Pradilla's painting is incorporated to the genre of the Spanish ballad, a capital genre, like history painting, for the construction of the nation. The romance transcends mere ekphrasis and articulates the same meaning of the painting by procedures that are homologous to the pictorial composition. The dialogue between painting and poetry, which underlines the eminently narrative nature of history painting, reveals that art and literatura, means of expression that channel the national story, play a fundamental role in the alleged canonization of themes and an imaginary as models for understanding the idea of Spain. The triple dialogue that is established between painting, literature and historiography illuminates the meaning of Doña Juana la Loca as a national story on canvas and in verse.