The Necromancer
1770 - 1775. Pencil.Not on display
Dating Paret’s drawings is very complex when they cannot be linked to the creative process of a documented project, be it a painting, urban decoration or book illustration. This is due to two reasons: first, there is scarcity of drawings that cannot be associated with other known works by the artist; and second, Paret’s mastery of technique from the beginning to the end of his life makes it difficult to determine a clear timeline in his graphic art. Nonetheless, it is possible to infer dates for his drawings based on their subject matter or on the formal connections they have with other his other works or by other artists from which he may have drawn inspiration. Such is the case of The Necromancer, which Alejandro Martínez (2018) has accurately associated with Le Magicien (Minneapolis Institute of Art, P.83.78), a print that Jean-Baptiste Le Prince (1734–1781) published in 1768. The influence that this painter and engraver had on Paret was remarkable. Therefore, it is possible to deduce a date close to the publication of the print – around the time when the artist was in contact with Charles de La Traverse (1726–1787) – and not after his exile in Puerto Rico.
The Necromancer is produced in black ink pen. It belongs to a typology of drawings in which Paret demonstrates his ability to quickly, but also precisely, capture an initial idea. The fact that there is no preliminary black pencil drawing over which the artist subsequently developed the composition reveals that this is a work produced directly on the sheet. It also demonstrates that this drawing was executed with a rapid movement of the pen, based on short strokes that always present the same intensity, without the lines becoming diluted in length due to the ink release. The vibrant lines, arranged leaving open or undefined spaces and not always clearly defined, display a sense of speed. Nevertheless, they allow the drawing to be clearly identified. Considerably similar to the graphic style of Le Prince’s etching, this drawing style suggests that it could be an initial idea for an engraving of his own. Although we have no record of Paret doing so, there are other examples of this type of technique in his oeuvre.
The Spanish mint engraver Pedro González de Sepúlveda recorded in his diaries several of Paret’s formulas for preparing inks. In addition to formulas for brown and gold inks, he included another for making a black ink especially suitable for drawings: ‘Paret says that with soapy water on the painter’s slab, that the fish smoke is well ground to make ink and then a little sponge is put in the inkwell that serves as a cendal and wine spirit is added and a little gum water, or with distilled vinegar that allows for good clean, thin lines that do not extend and if gum is not added it is good for the drawings that you want the ink to release or what is drawn’. In this last sentence, as we can see, he mentions that it was suitable for drawings that needed to release ink. In other words, it was suitable for drawings that needed to be transferred to another support, either to another sheet of paper (in other words, the plate onto which the drawing is pressed) or to a sheet of copper prepared with wax to be pressed, by means of an intaglio printing press, with the tracing of a drawing that was then engraved.
With regard to the subject matter, other works by Paret also demonstrate his interest in witchcraft or magic (The Match-Maker and the Lovers, Museo Nacional del Prado, D009400). These were very popular at the time, as shown by the success of comedies of this genre. In The Necromancer, the magician wears a medallion on his chest with the word ‘abracadabra’ spread across three lines. This is a reference to the inverted triangle shape in which this superstitious figure was to be written. The attire, the phrases written in Arabic characters in the book and the image framed with the Islamic symbol of the stars and crescent moon, all refer to the Eastern origin of these subjects.
Matilla, José Manuel, 'Luis Paret y Alcázar. El nigromante' En:. Paret, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2022, p.78-79 nº 6
