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Lot Essay
Studies for Cajès' painting of The Recovery of San Juan de Puerto Rico in the Prado, Madrid, A.E Pérez Sánchez et al., Museo del Prado, Inventario general de pinturas, I, Madrid, 1990, p. 90, no. 274 (inv. no. 653). The recto relates to the figure of General Don Juan de Haro, while the verso is for his companion on the right of the composition.
The painting, together with another of The Reconquest of St. Martin, was commissioned in 1633-34 as part of the Count-Duke of Olivares' grand scheme for the Hall of Realms in the Buen Retiro Palace, Madrid, built for King Philip IV. The Hall was decorated with twelve large paintings showing the military victories of King Philip's armies, together with five equestrian portraits of members of the Royal family by Velázquez and ten scenes from the life of Hercules by Zurbarán, J. Brown and J.H. Elliott, A Palace for a King: The Buen Retiro and the Court of Philip IV, New Haven and London, 1980, pp. 141-147.
Cajès' composition for the Recovery of San Juan de Puerto Rico shows the veteran Spanish commander Don Juan de Haro directing his forces as they launch an attack on the citadel at San Juan. The city had been captured in an opportunistic raid by Dutch forces under Admiral Boudewijn Hendricksz. on 24 September 1625, and they were not repulsed until 2 November. De Haro was mortally wounded by an exploding cannon in the last engagement and did not live to see the victory.
Eugenio Cajès, a pupil of his father Patricio, a native of Arezzo, was the favoured Painter to the King of Spain from 1612 until the appointment of Velázquez in 1623. His major works were for the Cathedral at Toledo, the Palacio del Pardo and the Escorial.
The painting, together with another of The Reconquest of St. Martin, was commissioned in 1633-34 as part of the Count-Duke of Olivares' grand scheme for the Hall of Realms in the Buen Retiro Palace, Madrid, built for King Philip IV. The Hall was decorated with twelve large paintings showing the military victories of King Philip's armies, together with five equestrian portraits of members of the Royal family by Velázquez and ten scenes from the life of Hercules by Zurbarán, J. Brown and J.H. Elliott, A Palace for a King: The Buen Retiro and the Court of Philip IV, New Haven and London, 1980, pp. 141-147.
Cajès' composition for the Recovery of San Juan de Puerto Rico shows the veteran Spanish commander Don Juan de Haro directing his forces as they launch an attack on the citadel at San Juan. The city had been captured in an opportunistic raid by Dutch forces under Admiral Boudewijn Hendricksz. on 24 September 1625, and they were not repulsed until 2 November. De Haro was mortally wounded by an exploding cannon in the last engagement and did not live to see the victory.
Eugenio Cajès, a pupil of his father Patricio, a native of Arezzo, was the favoured Painter to the King of Spain from 1612 until the appointment of Velázquez in 1623. His major works were for the Cathedral at Toledo, the Palacio del Pardo and the Escorial.