Academics in Cadiz. Victoria Martin Barhié and Alexandrina Gessler

Abstract

This article aims to highlight two great 19th-century painters and academics. These two figures, although born in Cádiz, achieved an impact beyond their hometown, where a certain prosperity prevailed that encouraged cultural diffusion and enrichment. The neoclassical Victoria Martín and the multifaceted Alejandrina Gessler, the latter always influenced by her beloved Paris, were two excellent women who managed to overcome the conventions of the time and left an important mark on the Andalusian and international artistic scene. This was due not only to their merits as painters, whose canvases were clearly admired from the outset, but also to their achievements as academics, with all the responsibility and resounding success that that historic event represented.