Pedro de Vega y Muñoz: Derby Day, Epsom

Pedro de Vega y Muñoz (1845-1910) was a painter born in Seville and studied at the School of Fine Arts in the city. He was a disciple of Eduardo Cano and in turn had Gonzalo Bilbao as his disciple. After a period in England, he returned to Spain at the end of the 19th century and entered the monastery of La Trapa de Val San José in Getafe under the name of "Fray Cesáreo", where he died in November 1910, at the age of sixty-five.

The world famous Epsom Derby dates back to 1661 and is one of the most iconic sporting and social events of the year. The race, held annually on the first weekend of June at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey, is considered to be one of the most prestigious flat thoroughbred horse races in the world. Many nineteenth century painters were fascinated by the sporting spectacle of Britain's classic horse racing events, primarily to record the diversity of the crowd in an exciting panorama of modern Victorian life, with the race itself out of sight and the Grandstand in the distance. This impressive picture is full of incident and activity recorded with great attention to detail.

the above text appears on the back of the card
HC-1477: card size 7" x 5" (178mm x 127mm)