José Villegas Cordero, Luis Jiménez Aranda and Francisco Peralta del Campo travel to Rome in 1868 to complete their training as painters. José Jiménez Aranda also travels to Rome in 1871. Training in academies in Rome is very important for painters. In these academies they learn new techniques that are not used in Spain like painting with live models.
Life models can be objects, people or landscapes.
Foreign painters represent the same themes as Spanish painters. The casacones, majos and bullfighters are some of their favourite themes. Art dealers like Goupil sell the painters’ works to rich people from all over the world. Fortuny was a Spanish painter who triumphed in Rome with his works. He painted with small brush strokes and very bright colours.
A casacon is a scene from the life of the upper classes in which men are painted with long jackets called
An art dealer is a person who trades in works of art.