A Life Painted in Light: The World of Martín Rico y Ortega Martín Rico y Ortega, born in El Escorial near Madrid in 1833, emerged as a pivotal figure in Spanish painting during a period of significant artistic transition. His life and work beautifully illustrate the shift from the Romantic sensibilities of his early training to the burgeoning Realism that would define much of his mature style. Initially studying at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando under Jenaro Pérez Villaamil, Rico absorbed the tenets of Romantic landscape painting – a focus on dramatic emotion and sublime n…