JOSÉ GALLEGOS ARNOSA Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz 1857 - Anzio, Italy 1917 The signing of the wedding contract. 1899 Oil on panel Signed and dated size 40 x 30 cm José Gallegos y Arnosa was one of the Spanish painters who best interpreted the pictorial genre of tableautin, in Spain called “casacón or casacones painting”. These small paintings, with a precious and meticulous technique, set in the 18th century, became fashionable in the second half of the 19th century. Its inventor, the painter Jean-Louis-Ernst Meissonier, found in the dealer Adolphe Goupil his best ally in the dissemination of a new genre that enjoyed great success among the more affluent families. In 1880, the Jerez-born painter Gallegos y Arnosa settled permanently in Rome and from his famous studio on the Via Margutta he dedicated himself to buying and selling antiques, a task that made him compatible with the art of painting. The Signature of the wedding contract uses a refined and exquisite technique to construct a scene of manners with a Goyesque setting of great mastery.