NARCISSE-VIRGILE DIAZ DE LA PEÑA (Bordeaux, 1808- Menton, 1876). "Character in the forest of Fontainebleau". Oil on canvas Signed in the lower left corner. Measurements: 70 x 90 cm; 95 x 114 cm (frame). Attached copy of the 1978 certificate of the art gallery and auction Hantson S. L., Seville. Representation of a character in the forest of Fontainebleau. Trees, vegetation, a cloudy sky, a barely visible path.... It is a vision of the forest as a pure landscape, simple and true, at the crossroads of two traditions, naturalist and romantic. The painting is also simple, as it emphasizes the absence of any anecdote or story. The trees, with emaciated and twisted branches, frame the path and are outlined in a dense threatening sky, giving the painting a tonality and an evidently romantic connotation. The vivacity of the brushstrokes that juxtapose, overlap and intermingle intensify the romantic flavor and actualize the complexity of a vibrant, lively and chaotic nature. Narcisse-Virgile Díaz de la Peña is a French artist of Spanish origin with an extensive pictorial variety. At the age of 15 he entered the studios of Sèvres, where he was engaged in the decoration of porcelain, thus beginning to paint very colorful figures, with certain orientalist airs, typical of the time in which he lived. His period of proliferation of landscapes began around 1831, when he met Théodore Rousseau, whom he saw painting forests and decided to start with this new pictorial theme. Soon after, Rousseau himself taught him to master the technique. Thus, his most important works are forest and storm scenes. He was decorated at the Paris Salon in 1851, but it was from the 70s of the nineteenth century when his landscape work began to become fashionable and to receive good reviews from scholars and collectors. Dimensions 70 x 90 cm; 95 x 114 cm (frame).