Brigida del Rio, "La Barbuda de Peñaranda" (1590): Juan Sánchez Cotán (1560-1627)

Abstract

The portrait of "Brigida del Rio, La Barbuda de Peñaranda" (Brigida del Rio, the bearded woman from Peñaranda) (Fig. 1) is listed among the paintings of Juan Sánchez Cotán (1560-1627), a Spanish Baroque painter, pioneer of realism in Spain. The inscription in the upper left corner of the canvas attests that the sitter was Brígida del Río, a popular figure in the late sixteenth century. Proof of her fame is its mention in several literary works and the creation of multiple renderings of the woman. It is one of several portraits of bearded women that have circulated in Spain. Some of them, such as the portrait of "La Muyer Barbuda" of De Ribera have reached us, and others are only known for their documentary references. Often, bearded women were included in the extensive catalog of dwarfs, buffoons and men of pleasure.