Spanish Maiden from the 1772

Written by Teresita Blanco (The Artsy Sister)

This is quite the cute maiden I drew. The patterns in her skirt took a great time to make. I think she came out pretty well. During that time, the Rococo was the popular style. All the paintings were done with sweet coloring and happiness. Everyone in Europe was caught by the happy vibe. All the happiness was short lived.

France was making its way towards the Revolution. Britain was in the middle of losing its American Colonies. As for Spain, they were stuck with the Spanish Inquisition. Nothing else needs to be said. Spain was one of the few remaining strongholds of the Catholic church. As such, they were trying to hold onto it with all their fury.

So, behind this cute depiction of naivety there lied a dark secret. Oh, well. Here is the maiden I drew. The outfit is not a maid dress. Rather, it is one worn by somewhat rich maidens who wanted to play shepherds. Taking care of sheep was a popular pass time of rich people.

This is well noted in the book of Don Quixote. This pastime was popularized by the ancient Greek Books. The nobles were in love with everything that was Greek. So, there we have the rich people playing shepherds. While performing this menial task, the nobles also wrote plenty of pastoral poems.