Though born in Madrid, Zubiaurre’s Basque origins proved crucial in shaping his art and style. He cultivated the typical themes of genre painting, focusing on the representation of popular Basque Country traditions. At a time when Impressionism was the major influence, Zubiaurre’s practice, somewhere between Naturalism and Symbolism, had a more intellectual ambition.

This painting, shown for the first time at the exhibition held in Sala Iturrioz in 1910 dedicated to Valentín and to his brother Ramón, belongs to his best period, in which Zubiaurre evokes rural life in the Basque Country through a depiction of its typical characters, architecture and landscape. Stylistically, it stands out for its meticulous drawing, richness of colour and attention to detail, qualities very much in keeping with the spirit of the Generation of ‘98.

The motif is recurring in the artist’s work from this period, as too is its compositional arrangement. Zubiaurre makes use of a religious subject matter to comment on the characteristic fervour of local peasants, particularly women, as exemplified in the devotees in the foreground. In turn, he renders a typical Basque rural scene as if it were a frieze, in which the characters stand out against a simplified landscape, true to reality but with symbolic connotations redolent of the artist’s melancholic vision.

The tower of the Church of San Juan Evangelista in the background reveals that the scene is set in Garay, a small village in Duranguesado (Bizkaia) that appears frequently in Zubiaurre’s works.