Holy Friday

Holy Friday is a work by Julio Romero de Torres, painted after 1914, and one of the examples of the Symbolism the Córdoba-born artist explored. It shows a woman dressed in mourning, with a black veil over her head, in a sober composition against a dark background that draws attention to the face and hands. Her right hand is raised in a gesture that recalls a blessing, while her left holds a rosary. This pairing of gesture and devotional object links the figure to an iconography the painter returned to in other compositions, such as Mystical Love or Religious Córdoba, the latter part of the polyptych Poem of Córdoba. The model is believed to have been either Rafaela Ruiz or Socorro Miranda, both of whom were part of the painter's life during those years, though this is not certain. The painting belonged to the collection of Ángel Avilés Merino, who donated it in 1922, two years before his death, to the Museo de Bellas Artes de Córdoba, where it is now kept. Its interest lies in the blend of devotion and sensuality that characterizes much of the painter's output.

Painter

Julio Romero de Torres

Date

1914

Medium

tempera, oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

62 × 51 cm

Museum

Museum of Fine Arts of Córdoba, Córdoba

Movement

Symbolism

Genre

portrait

Depicts

rosary, woman

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