Diego Garcia Soto, Spanish Maritime Votive Offering Schooner Rumbosa, January 22, 1831 Oil Painting on Panel

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Spanish Maritime Votive Offering – Schooner “Rumbosa”, Diego García Soto – January 22, 1831 – Oil on Panel

- A … Read more Spanish Maritime Votive Offering – Schooner “Rumbosa”, Diego García Soto – January 22, 1831 – Oil on Panel

- A Spanish maritime votive offering dated 1831, painted in oil on panel and dedicated by Diego García Soto, a person associated with the schooner “Rumbosa”.

The composition depicts the schooner in the midst of a rough sea, seemingly in grave danger, with damage to its rigging.

In the upper left corner appears a representation of Our Lady, crowned and surrounded by a radiant light, whose specific title has not been definitively determined.

The upper section bears an inscription identifying the offerer and the vessel:

“Ex-voto from Diego García Soto of the schooner ‘Rumbosa’”

The lower section records the reason for the expression of gratitude and, exceptionally, the exact date of the event:

“Our Lady appeared to me, saving me from certain death at sea on January 22, 1831.”

The inscription links the work to a specific maritime incident that occurred on January 22, 1831, although to date, the exact circumstances of the accident have not been documented in the digitized records consulted, nor has it been possible to determine whether the schooner sank. For this reason, Diego García Soto is not assigned a specific rank—captain, skipper, sailor, or passenger—which the work itself does not specify.

Particularly interesting is the depiction of the vessel, executed within the tradition of sailors' votive offerings, devotional documents given in gratitude for surviving shipwrecks, storms, and other perils of the sea.

The work is painted on a support made of several wooden planks, joined and reinforced on the back with crossbeams.

It retains a markedly aged surface, with wear, cracks, and separations along the joints of the planks, losses of polychromy, and numerous old holes from wood-boring insects, currently visible, especially on the back. (The wood has been treated to eliminate wood-boring insects.)

The painting also shows losses and wear, but the name Diego García Soto, the name of the schooner Rumbosa, and the date January 22, 1831, remain perfectly legible—elements fundamental to its historical and documentary value.

Dimensions: 46 × 32 × 2 cm

Period: First third of the 19th century, dated 1831.

Technique: Painting on panel.

Provenance: Spain, the specific port or region cannot currently be determined.

Condition: Good for its age, with wear, cracks, losses of polychromy, separations between some panels, and numerous signs of old woodworm infestation. See detailed photographs. This piece has an attribution mark,
I am sure that it is completely authentic and take full responsibility for any authenticity
issues arising from misattribution See less