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Throughout his career, Lecuona produced individual portraits of members of his family, who he also included in a number of works, of which Ingress in Las Huelgas is the finest example. From the size and composition, Lecuona seems to be aiming at elevating a private event to some kind of historical significance. The work commemorates the moment when the family and some friends say farewell to his daughter María Visitación, who entered as a novice in the Monastery of Las Huelgas in Burgos in 1890. The painting, in which the artist portrays himself with his back to the spectator, while his wife embraces their daughter, is an interesting iconographic gallery of contemporary personalities from Bilbao, including the celebrant of the event, the priest and historian Estanislao Jaime de Labayru. (Mikel Lertxundi)

Selected bibliography

• "Gacetilla", El Noticiero Bilbaíno, 23 de marzo de 1898. p. 2.
• Zubiaurre, Pilar de. "La casa del pintor", Euzko-Deya, n° 71, abril de 1946. p. 4.
• Exposición de pintura retrospectiva bilbaína : Antonio de Lecuona, 1860-1900 [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Junta de Cultura de Vizcaya, 1951.
• Irigoyen, J. de. "Exposición de cuadros de D. Antonio de Lecuona, 1860-1899, en el Museo del Parque", La Gaceta del Norte. 31 de marzo de 1951. p. 6.
• Arnáiz, José Manuel [dir.]. Cien años de pintura en España y Portugal, 1830-1930. Madrid, Antiquaria, vol. IV, 1990. p. 247.
• Adquisiciones 02/07 [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2007. pp. 26-27, n° cat. 4.
• De Goya a Gauguin : el siglo XIX en el Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2008. pp. 224-226, n° cat. 33.
• Guía Artistas Vascos. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2008. pp. 20-21.
• Gida Euskal Artistak. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Eder Museoa, 2008. pp. 20-21.
• Guide Basque Artists. Bilbao, Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, 2012. pp. 20-21, n° cat. 6b.
• Fornells, Montserrat. Gipuzkoako pintore erromantikoak = Pintores románticos guipuzcoanos [Cat. exp.]. Donostia-San Sebastián, Kutxa Fundazioa = Fundación Kutxa, 2013. pp. 29-30, 113, 124.
• Antonio María Lecuona, 1831-1907 : pionero del costumbrismo vasco [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2015. pp. 48-50, 108, n° cat. 94.
• Zubiaurre, Pilar de. Evocaciones : artículos y diario, 1909-1958 . San Sebastián, Saturrarán, 2009. p. 170.