Francisco de Goya

Manuel Silvela

Manuel Silvela
Datos Generales
Cronología
1810 - 1813
Ubicación
The Prado National Museum. Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Dimensiones
95 x 68 cm
Técnica y soporte
Oil on canvas
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Documented work
Titular
El Prado National Museum
Ficha: realización/revisión
04 Apr 2010 / 16 Jun 2023
Inventario
(P02450)
Historia

This portrait was probably made in Bordeaux after Goya had moved to the city, in which Silvela had already been living for over ten years.

It belonged to the subject's descendants: his grandson, Francisco Silvela; to his grandson's widow, Amalia Lorig; and later to his great-grandson, Jorge Silvela, Marquis of Silvela, who sold it to the Spanish Ministry of Development in June 1931. It was purchased to go into the Prado Museum.

Análisis artístico

Manuel Silvela y García de Aragón (Valladolid, 1781-Paris, 1832) was born into a large family. He studied law and moved to Madrid, where he held the position of court judge during the French occupation. He and his family left for Bordeaux upon Ferdinand VII's return, in 1813. Joining them in 1823 was their good friend Moratín, followed by Goya a year later. In Bordeaux, Silvela founded a school for Spaniards and became one of the most influential of all the Spanish exiles. He moved to Paris with Moratín in 1827.

Opinions differ with regards the date in which this portrait was made. With its dark colour palette, neutral background and simple composition, the portrait fits in far more with those from the artist's final period than with those from around 1810, the date which this portrait was traditionally thought to have been painted. At this earlier date, the subject still held the post of judge, was yet to leave for France, and the Spanish War of Independence was still raging. In the portrait, with his grey head of hair, the sitter looks closer to forty-three, which would have been his age in Bordeaux in 1824, than to twenty-nine, which would have been his age in 1810. Furthermore, the relationship between Goya and Silvela would have grown closer following the artist's arrival in Bordeaux and thanks to the connection between them provided by Moratín.

Silvela is shown here sitting in a chair, the back of which is visible over his shoulder. He is turning to the right and his gaze is fixed in the same direction. He wears a grey overcoat, yellow waistcoat and white and blue scarf. This romantic clothing also favours the hypothesis that the painting was made at the later date.

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
  • Pintura española de la primera mitad del siglo XIX
    Sociedad Española de Amigos del Arte
    Madrid
    1913
  • Pinturas de Goya
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1928
    consultant editor Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor. From Apri to -May 1928
  • Les chefs-d’œuvre du Musée du Prado
    Musée d’Art et d’Histoire
    Geneva
    1939
    consultant editors Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor y Pedro Muguruza Otaño. From June to September 1939
  • Tesoros del arte español
    Hemisfair’68
    San Antonio
    1968
  • Goya
    Palacio de Pedralbes
    Barcelona
    1977
    from April 12th to June 30th 1977
  • Spanish paintings of 18th and 19th Century. Goya and his time
    Seibu Museum of Art
    Tokyo
    1987
    exhibited also at Seibu Tsukashin, Amagasaki; Iwaki City Museum Fukushima, Fukushima
  • 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. 250 Aniversario
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1996
    consultant editor Juan J. Luna. From March 29th to June 2nd 1996
  • Goya y Moratín [En Burdeos, 1824 – 1828]
    Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao
    Bilbao
    1998
    consultant editor Françoise García
  • Goya’s last Works
    The Frick Art Collection
    New York
    2006
    consultant editors Jonathan Brown and Susan Grace Galassi. From February 22nd to May 14th 2006
  • Goya y el Mundo Moderno
    Museo de Zaragoza
    Zaragoza
    2008
    organized by the Fundación Goya en Aragón at the Museo de Zaragoza, consultant editors Valeriano Bozal and Concepción Lomba Serrano. From December 18th 2008 to March 22nd 2009
  • Goya e il Mondo Moderno
    Palazzo Reale
    Milan
    2010
    organized by SEACEX, Palazzo Reale and Fundación Goya en Aragón, consultant editors Valeriano Bozal and Concepción Lomba Serrano. From March 17th to June 27th 2010
Bibliografía
  • DESPARMET FITZ - GERALD, Xavier
    L'œuvre peint de Goya. 4 vols
    París
    1928-1950
    vol. II, p. 216, cat. 505
  • NUÑEZ DE ARENAS, Manuel
    Manojo de noticias. La suerte de Goya en Francia
    Bulletin Hispanique, Annales de la Faculté des Lettres de Bordeaux
    1950
    p. 233
  • SÁNCHEZ CANTÓN. Francisco Javier
    Vida y obras de Goya
    MadridEditorial Peninsular
    1951
    p. 100
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    pp. 253, 262, cat. 891
  • GUDIOL RICART, José
    BarcelonaPolígrafa
    1970
    vol. I, p. 346, cat. 567
  • ANGELIS, Rita de
    L’opera pittorica completa di Goya
    MilanRizzoli
    1974
    p. 124, cat. 519
  • CAMÓN AZNAR, José
    Francisco de Goya, 4 vols.
    ZaragozaCaja de Ahorros de Zaragoza, Aragón y Rioja
    1980-1982
    vol. III, p. 171 y p. 367 (il.)
  • LUNA, Juan J. (Comisario)
    Goya. 250 Aniversario
    MadridMuseo del Prado
    1996
    p. 434, cat. 168 y p. 274 (il.)
  • BROWN, Jonathan y GALASSI, Susan Grace
    Goya’s last works
    New YorkThe Frick Collection and Yale University Press
    2006
    p. 112, cat. 11 y p. 113 (il.)
Enlaces externos
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