José Moreno Carbonero (1858-1942) was a Spanish painter who brought moments of history to life with grandeur and pageantry.
Prince Don Carlos of Viana, 1881 by José Moreno Carbonero
He studied in Paris with Gerome, and spent time in Rome.
The Entry of Roger de Flor in Constantinople by José Moreno Carbonero
Height: 350 cm (11.4 ft); Width: 550 cm (18 ft)
One of his large works shows "the Italian mercenary Roger de Flor and his troops of Almogavar warriors entering the city to relieve the Byzantine emperor from the Turkish."
The Conversion of the Duke of Gandía by José Moreno Carbonero
This painting illustrates a spiritual—and gruesome—moment as San Francisco de Borja, Marquis of Lombay converted to Christianity "after contemplating the rotten corpse of Empress Isabel of Portugal, wife of Emperor Carlos I of Spain. The empress died in Toledo on May 1, 1539, her body being transferred to Granada, the city where the scene represented in the painting took place. When the duke contemplated that the corpse of the empress, whose beauty had captivated the entire Castilian Court, had decomposed due to the heat of the trip, the nobleman decided to 'Never again, never again serve a lord that I may die,'" He then entered the Order of the Jesuits.
Adventure of the Merchants by José Moreno Carbonero
Here's a detail showing the care he lavished on each figure.
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Quotes from Wikipedia: José Moreno Carbonero
