Long Live the Chains! ("Vivan las caenas [cadenas]")
1807–45
![Long Live the Chains! ("Vivan las caenas [cadenas]") by Leonardo Alenza y Nieto](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/dp/thumb/long-live-the-chains-vivan-las-caenas-cadenas-335163.webp)
Medium
Pen and dark brown ink on off-white paper. Composition outlined with pen and dark brown ink on all sides
Dimensions
7-1/8 x 5-3/8 in. (18.1 x 13.7 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Dodge Fund, 1939
Accession Number
39.29.20
Tags
Art Historical Context
Leonardo Alenza y Nieto (7–1849), a prominent Spanish Romantic artist and master draughtsman, created *Long Live the Chains! ("Vivan las ca [cadenas]")* during a turbulent era in Spain's history. Working primarily in Madrid, Alenza was celebrated for his costumbrista style—vivid depictions of everyday Spanish life, customs, and character types like the flamboyant majos and majas. This-scale drawing, executed in pen and dark ink on off-white paper7-1/8 x 5-3/8 in.), exemplifies his precise, outlined technique, which allowed for sharp contrasts and dynamic compositions suited to satirical commen...
About the Artist
Leonardo Alenza y Nieto · 1807–1845
Leonardo Alenza y Nieto (1807–1845) was a Spanish painter and caricaturist whose brief life produced a body of work remarkable for its satirical wit, psychological penetration, and painterly freedom. Born in Madrid, he trained at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, the preeminent institution for artistic education in Spain, where he absorbed the technical foundations of academic pai...