The battle of Wad-Ras (Sketch)

In a field with hills and mountains in the background, groups of Spaniards and Moroccans engage in combat beside a river. In the center, horsemen fight; on the left, Spanish infantry. It is considered the first sketch for a painting on the battle of Wad-Ras that should be part of the series of “four large canvases and six medium-sized ones all referring to episodes, events and views of the war [de Marruecos]” that Fortuny promised to make for the Diputación de Barcelona in January 1860 and that he never realized, The only remaining testimonies – strictly speaking – of the commission are the unfinished canvas with The Battle of Tetuan from the Museum of Modern Art of Barcelona and sketches for The Battle of Castillejos and The Battle of Wad-Ras. Of the latter Fortuny made three sketches: the one preserved in our Gómez-Moreno Institute is dated 1861 and therefore made in Rome where he resided throughout that year. / Extracted from: A.A.V.V.: Instituto Gómez-Moreno (catalog). Granada, 1992, p. 143 / Photo: Luis Morales Quesada