Assemblage Portrait Paintings

The Grey Mariana and the Butterfly is made with natural linen and antiques with embroidered lace. Butterflies are included on the back on the image. Torroba drew inspiration for this artwork from Diego Velazquez’s 1653 portrait of Queen Mariana of Austria. Born in Madrid in 1963, Maria Torroba studied art in her hometown where she experimented with various techniques and themes. She earned recognition for her talents and was accepted into the prestigious Fine Arts program at the Peña Academy in Madrid from which she graduated with distinction in 1980. After studying art for a year in Oxford, England, Torroba became interested in famous portraiture by artists such as Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Ghirlandaio, English Tudor court painter Master John, and the iconic Spanish Baroque artist Diego Velazquez. Inspired by history, Torroba returned to Spain where she continues to work and re-examine historical portraiture. She is particularly interested in fifteenth- through seventeenth-century paintings of royal...