Mesonero Romanos 1842

This is Rosario Weiss Zorrilla’s pencil drawing of Mesonero Romanos. Notice the gaze, steady and direct; eyes that have seen much of the world. It's an attitude reminiscent of the Roman busts, where the subject's gaze was a sign of power, wisdom and authority. In earlier times, the unflinching gaze could be found in religious iconography, portraits of rulers, and heroes. Think of the ancient pharaohs in Egyptian art or the emperors of Rome—their eyes, wide and unwavering, were meant to inspire awe and project command. But as time marches on, this symbol of authority evolves, finding its way into different artistic expressions. Here, that gaze is softened, humanized. It now speaks less of absolute power and more of intellectual authority. Mesonero Romanos, a writer and keen observer of his time, presents a modern figure, an urban chronicler. It's fascinating to observe how the same symbolic language can transform, echoing across epochs, as collective memory reshapes and reinterprets our visual vocabulary.