Spanish Soldiers

ca. 1903

At the end of a tour through Spain in 1903, Sargent visited the famous pilgrimage site of Santiago de Compostela and painted watercolors of Spanish soldiers recuperating in the sunlit courtyards of the fifteenth-century Royal Hospital. Although the title of this work suggests the anonymity of its subjects, Sargent conveyed a specific likeness in the primary figure, despite his summary description. He was clearly drawn to this model, who appears in a number of his watercolors.