Figure 1.--This is another of Esquival's commisssions, but again the mames of the children are lost. There are twins who look to be about 3 years old and their older brother who looks to be about 9 years old. We believe that they are all brothers. The younger boys wear matching dresses and baby bonnets but the side hair part suggest that they are twin brothers. The older brother wears what looks like a velvet burgundy tunic with lace trimmed collar and cuff trim. He also wears brown pants. He has long hair. That by itself was not a childish style. Adult men at the time might have long hair. This had to be a commission, but the names of the children are lost. We see the image on several internet sites and while we know the date, nothing more is known. All we see is 'Children playing with a ram.'

This is has to be another of Esquival's commissions, but again the names of the children are lost. There are twins who look to be about 3 years old and their older brother who looks to be about 9 years old. We believe that they are all brothers. The younger boys wear matching dresses and baby bonnets but the side hair part suggest that they are twin brothers. The older brother wears what looks like a velvet burgundy tunic with lace trimmed collar and cuff trim. He also wears brown pants. He has long hair. That by itself was not a childish style. Adult men at the time might have long hair. This had to be a commission, but the names of the children are lost. We see the image on several internet sites and while we know the date, nothing more is known. All we see is 'Children playing with a ram.' This had to occur in the countryside. Children in the city would not have a ram to play with. Given the way they are dressed with elegant clothing and the fact that their parents could afford a painted portrait by a respected artist, the children are probably the family of a rich aristocrat with a country estate. Sheep husbandry and wool production was an important economic activity. It is is also suggested by the background of the portrait. As is the case throughout Europe and especially in Spain. Most of the land was in the hands of aristocrats. Much of the population was a rural landless peasantry. This was not unusual. Since the beginning of civilization in Sumeria, most of the land was owned by kings, emperors, pharaohs, priests, and aristocrats. Few if the people who worked the land actually owned the land they worked. This has begun to change. America was the first country where the average person could own the land they worked. Two decades later during the French Revolution, the French peasantry gained ownership of their land.

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Created: 5:37 PM 11/29/2023
Last updated: 5:37 PM 11/29/2023