Francisco de Goya

Juan Antonio Llorente

Juan Antonio Llorente
Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1810 - 1812
Ubicación
Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP), São Paulo, Brazil
Dimensiones
189 x 114 cm
Técnica y soporte
Oil on canvas
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Documented work
Titular
Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil
Ficha: realización/revisión
07 Apr 2010 / 16 Jun 2023
Inventario
(176 P)
Historia

This painting came from the collection of Don Francisco Llorente y García de Vinuesa, Madrid. From there it went to the collection of Juan Lafora, Madrid, and then to that of Durand Ruel, in Paris. In 1903 it was bought by M. Durand-Ruel.

Análisis artístico

Don Juan Antonio Llorente (Rincón del Soto, La Rioja, 1756-Madrid, 1823) was commissioner of the Holy Office in Logroño, Secretary of the Inquisition in Madrid, Director General of National Assets, and Commissioner of the Holy Crusade. He was also a doctor in canon law, and was ordained as a priest in 1779. This intelligent and cultured man wished to carry out a reform of the Inquisition. A man of liberal ideas, he was persecuted and forced into exile in France, where he continued to write books, among which his Critical History of the Spanish Inquisition (Historia crítica de la Inquisición española) stands out in particular. It was published for the first time in France in 1818, and made use of the information its author had gathered in Madrid when he was Secretary of the Inquisition there. Bonaparte awarded him the Royal Order of Spain, popularly known as "the aubergine", which he is wearing here in the portrait in the form of a ribbon around his neck. He was able to benefit from the amnesty given by the liberal government and return to Spain, dying in Madrid in 1823.

The subject is shown standing, life size, in front of a neutral background. He wears completely black ecclesiastical dress, with the only note of colour provided by the Royal Order of Spain, awarded to him by Joseph Bonaparte during the French occupation of the country. His head is covered by a skullcap, with some of his grey hair falling down around his face. His left hand, the little finger of which bears the ring of Commissioner of the Holy Crusade, is resting on top of the right one, which is gathering up part of his black clothing.

The most striking thing about this portrait is the luminous face of the model, characterised by an alert and intelligent gaze. This is a good example of Goya's ability to reflect a psychological insight into his sitters.

Proof of the ties that Llorente maintained with Goya is a manuscript that he wrote, containing comments on the artist's Caprices series and kept at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Exposiciones
  • Goya 1900
    Ministerio de Instrucción Pública and Bellas Artes
    Madrid
    1900
    consultant editors Aureliano de Beruete, Alejandro Ferrant, Marqués de Pidal and Ricardo Velázquez. May 1900
  • Goya y el espíritu de la Ilustración
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1988
    from October 6th to December 18th 1988. Exhibited also at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, January 18th to March 26th 1989; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York, May 9th to July 16th 1989, Madrid curator Manuela B. Mena Marqués, scientific directors Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez and Eleanor A. Sayre
  • Goya
    La Lonja, Torreón Fortea y Museo Pablo Gargallo
    Zaragoza
    1992
    consultant editor Julián Gállego
  • Goya: The Portraits
    London
    2015
Bibliografía
  • DESPARMET FITZ - GERALD, Xavier
    L'œuvre peint de Goya. 4 vols
    París
    1928-1950
    p. 191, cat. 478
  • SÁNCHEZ CANTÓN. Francisco Javier
    Vida y obras de Goya
    MadridEditorial Peninsular
    1951
    pp. 99 y 100
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p. 261, cat. 881
  • GUDIOL RICART, José
    BarcelonaPolígrafa
    1970
    vol. I, p. 347, cat. 570
  • CAMÓN AZNAR, José
    Francisco de Goya, 4 vols.
    ZaragozaCaja de Ahorros de Zaragoza, Aragón y Rioja
    1980-1982
    vol. III, p. 170
  • GÁLLEGO, Julián
    Goya
    ZaragozaElecta
    1992
    pp. 120 y 121 (il.), cat. 44
  • BRAY, Xavier
    LondonNational Gallery Company
    2015
    pp. 170-172
  • www.masp.ar.br, consulted 03-04-10
    03-04-10
Enlaces externos
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