Saint Joseph Church, Madrid

Created when Mariano Fortuny was just 17 years old, this etching of Saint Joseph Church in Madrid reveals the precocious talent of an artist who would become Spain's most celebrated painter of the mid-19th century. Born in Catalonia in 1838, Fortuny was orphaned young and raised by his grandfather, a cabinet-maker. By age 14, he had moved to Barcelona to study at the Escola de la Llotja, where he mastered drawing and printmaking techniques. This etching was made just two years before he won a scholarship to study in Rome, launching the career that would make him famous for his vivacious brushwork and Orientalist scenes.

The choice of Madrid's Saint Joseph Church as subject matter shows the young artist honing his skills in architectural rendering and demonstrating the traditional academic training he received under masters like Claudi Lorenzale. While Fortuny would later become known for colorful, iridescent paintings of Moroccan scenes and Spanish genre subjects—works that anticipated Impressionism with their shimmering light effects—this early etching displays the careful observation and technical precision that formed the foundation of his art. It's a rare glimpse of Fortuny before his transformative travels to Morocco in 1859 and his subsequent fascination with exotic themes that would define his mature style.