(en) Photographer Manrique. Vintage photography Caracas, Venezuela 1921

This magnificent image, gelatin bromide, contains the members of the official mission sent by Spanish King Alfonso XIII to Venezuela in 1921, to meet General Juan Vicente Gomez.
The central figure in the photograph is the Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria, that in 1906, married the Infanta Maria Teresa of Bourbon Mrs. daughter of Alfonso XII and sister, therefore, of Alfonso XIII.
The photo is made by one of the best pioneers of Venezuelan photography Pedro I. Manrique, whose photographic study was one of the most important in Caracas since the late nineteenth century until well into the twentieth century.
This picture is included in an album that is a graphic reminder of the visit of Prince Fernando to Caracas where they were treated by General D. Juan Vicente Gómez who ran Venezuela for 27 years.

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PEDRO IGNACIO MANRIQUE And ARVELO, Caracas (1863-1926)

Photographer and writer. Son of Bartholomew Manrique de Lara and Arvelo Arvelo and Manuela and Echeandia. 

 He alternated his studies with courses in photography school that teaches a English-born photographer based in Caracas, TA Gray and drawing courses under the direction of José Manuel Mauco at the Central University of Venezuela.

In 1880, Gray's death, Manrique, in partnership with the Italian Juan Bautista Pinottini, had established a photographic studio in Victoria. In 1883 is associated with General Pedro Brito Arismendi and opens a first photographic studio in Caracas. Then travels to the east of the country: Barcelona, ​​Cumana and Carupano, accompanied by the painter William S. Signing Gil who appears together with him, the photos taken. 

In 1893, he traveled to Europe where he brought the material that served to open in Caracas his own photo studio, under the trade name of Manrique and Company. This study offered sophisticated methods such as photography glossy or matte platinum, illustrated portraits, the photo-multifotografía and silk. 

Manrique was also the introducer in Venezuela of color photography. True "academy of photography", the study of Manrique and Company. helped the formation of numerous Venezuelan professionals in the industry. Manrique photographic images illustrated the pages of The Cripple, El Nuevo Diario, El Universal, Billiken, Elite and News and were honored with numerous awards, both in Venezuela and abroad. Besides his work in the photographic field, Manrique also published a book of poems, Living Dead (1922) and numerous articles in magazines of the time. 

His son and disciple, Pedro Antonio Manrique Arvelo, kept the establishment founded by his father until 1937, when he held the position of official photographer of the palace of Miraflores, it was he who made the series of photographs from the prison of La Rotunda in Caracas before its demolition in 1936. J.D.