| The Dying Contrabandista | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | John Phillip |
| Year | 1858 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, genre painting |
| Dimensions | 130 cm× 200 cm(52 in× 80 in) |
| Location | Royal Collection |
The Dying Contrabandista is an oil on canvas genre painting by the British artist John Phillip, from 1858. It is held in the Royal Collection. [1]
Formerly a member of The Clique artistic group, later in his career Phillip concentrated on scenes of Spanish life and was a favourite painter of Queen Victoria. [2]
The canvas portrays a fatally wounded smuggler (Spanish: contrabandista) dying in the arms of his beloved. Other two members of the smugglers gang, stands sentry, looking out of the windows, one of them, at the left, is holding a rifle. The dying's man donkey stands nearby. The theme of a wounded guerrilla had previously been used by David Wilkie in a scene of the Peninsular War. [3] It was displayed the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition of 1858.
It provided inspiration for the 1866 opera The Contrabandista by Arthur Sullivan and F.C. Burnand. [4] The work was acquired by Queen Victoria in 1858 for 650 guineas as a Christmas gift for her husband, Prince Albert. Today the painting remains in the Royal Collection. [5]