My love for The Lovers of Teruel (1884)

By Eve Mustin

Whilst living in Madrid for six months, I visited the Prado Museum more often than once. Spain’s national art gallery hosts an impressive collection of influential European paintings by Goya, Velázquez, El Greco, Rubens, Bosch, and Titian, to name a few. One could spend hours studying the 1,800 works exhibited over three floors. Yet, I found myself returning to one painting in particular: The Lovers of Teruel (1884) or Los amantes de Teruel.

Painted in 1884 by artist Antonio Muñoz Degrain, The Lovers of Teruel captures a tragically beautiful scene of two lovers reunited in death. This enormous oil painting portrays the thirteenth-century story of Diego Juan Martínez de Marsilla and Isabel de Segura, who although deeply in love with one another, are forced apart because of Diego’s social standing. Diego is given five years by her father to grow his fortune, whilst Isabel awaits his return. Five years to the date of his departure, Diego has not returned to Teruel, so Isabel’s father marries her to Rodrigo de Azagra. On their wedding day Diego, a wealthy man, arrives with the intent of marrying Isabel. He sneaks into her bedroom and begs her to kiss him; she refuses owing to her loyalty to her husband. A heartbroken man, Diego collapses and dies at the feet of his lover. The Lovers of Teruel depicts Diego’s funeral, to which Isabel arrives in her wedding dress. Upon kissing him, Isabel then dies by his side.

Muñoz Degrain encapsulates the haunting sadness of this Romeo and Juliet tale in the mourners that surround the two lovers. Whilst some are resignedly melancholy, moved by the couple’s determination to remain together, others appear to be genuinely dismayed by this tragic turn of events. The blurred faces of the mourners in the background draw our attention to the spotlight which shines onto the pale figures of Isabel and Diego. Isabel is reminiscent of a ghostly figure in her white wedding dress, which glistens in the dimly candlelit church. The fallen candle stand brings to mind an image of Isabel running to Diego’s side. Or perhaps it toppled over as she collapsed to her death. Muñoz Degrain allows the spectator to interpret it for themselves. The rich colours of the fabrics, the wisp of candle smoke, and the expressive mourners place the spectator into the painting itself. The painting moves as though we are witness to Isabel’s death ourselves. Its immense size draws us in, adding to the painting’s immersive feeling. It is difficult to look away from this striking tragedy.

The Lovers of Teruel reinterprets a thirteenth-century Spanish legend through the lens of Romanticism. The painting becomes a vehicle for expressing the emotional state of its characters, distancing itself from the need to portray individual likeness in the Enlightenment period. Muñoz Degrain’s originality is cultivated in his version of these previously faceless lovers. The Lovers of Teruel allows for both the artist and the spectator to imagine freely by opening up the painting to interpretation. It is no surprise that it won First Prize at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts the year it was exhibited.

If you visit Madrid, the Prado Museum is a must-see for its spectacular collection of art. But The Lovers of Teruel is a painting which stands out from all the rest; it truly took my breath away.