GOYA'S LEGACY
This drawing of an orating priest, gesticulating and brandishing a document, attests to Lucas's affinity with the art of Goya. The masklike faces of the protagonist and onlookers suggest a macabre scene, and the stage from which the priest proclaims adds a theatrical element to the episode. With this work, Lucas not only demonstrated his debt to his predecessor but also paved the way toward an abbreviated approach to figurative expression, foreshadowing his more abstract works.
Eugenio Lucas (1817-1870), Priest Declaiming, ca. 1850