Mariano Moreno en su mesa de trabajo is a portrait by the Chilean artist Pedro Subercaseaux

Pedro Subercaseaux

Pedro León Maximiano María Subercaseaux Errázuriz was a Chilean painter. He painted many portraits about events from the history of Chile, such as the Crossing of the Andes. He painted portraits of the history of Argentina requested during the Argentina Centennial...

. It shows the artist's interpretation of Mariano Moreno

Mariano Moreno

Mariano Moreno was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, and politician. He played a decisive role in the Primera Junta, the first national government of Argentina, created after the May Revolution....

, Secretary of War of the Argentine Primera Junta

Primera Junta

The Primera Junta or First Assembly is the most common name given to the first independent government of Argentina. It was created on 25 May 1810, as a result of the events of the May Revolution. The Junta initially had representatives from only Buenos Aires...

, the first national government, working at his desk. It is currently regarded as the canonical image of Moreno.

Description

The portrait was requested to Subercaseaux by Antonio Carranza in 1908, in the context of the proximity of the Argentina Centennial

Argentina Centennial

The Argentina Centennial was celebrated on May 25, 1910. It was the 100th anniversary of the May Revolution, when viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros was ousted from office and replaced with the Primera Junta, the first national government.-Context:...

 two years later. His instructions were that the portrait should represent Mariano Moreno while working hard, late in the night, writing with a quill

Quill

A quill pen is a writing implement made from a flight feather of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen, metal-nibbed pens, the fountain pen, and, eventually, the ballpoint pen...

, with many papers scattered around, and worried by the gravity of the measures being taken.

Subercaseaux was not very satisfied with his work, thinking that his version of Moreno was not as thin as Moreno was reported to be.

The portrait is currently kept at the National Historical Museum.