- Cronología
- 1785
- Ubicación
- Private collection
- Dimensiones
- 112 x 80 cm
- Técnica y soporte
- Oil on canvas
- Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
- Documented work
- Titular
- Private collection
- Ficha: realización/revisión
- 24 Jan 2010 / 15 Jun 2023
- Inventario
- -
- Otros títulos:
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The Countess-Duchess of Benavente
The Duchess of Osuna
This work was commissioned to Goya along with its companion painting Pedro Téllez Girón, IX duque de Osuna in 1785. It has belonged to Alfredo Bauer, Juan March Ordinas and Bartolomé March Servera.
Doña María Josefa de la Soledad (Madrid, 1752 - 1834), as well as being the Countess-Duchess of Benavente, was the Duchess of Béjar, Mandas, Plasencia, Arcos and Gandía, Princess of Anglona and Esquilace, Marchioness of Lombay and Jabalquinto, and the Countess of Mayorga.
She was one of the most prominent female figures of the Spanish nobility, and dedicated her life to the patronage of the arts, an interest she had developed since her childhood in the cultural atmosphere in which she was raised. She was even admitted into the Economic Society of Madrid, and led the Junta de Damas, a women's council providing various services to benefit women.
She married the 9th Duke of Osuna, Pedro Téllez Girón. The family home was a frequent meeting place for intellectuals and artists, visited by such figures as Moratín, Tomás Iriarte, Ramón de la Cruz and, of course, Goya.
Doña María Josefa became one of Goya's main patrons, commissioning him to paint various canvasses including a portrait of her family, the present work, and the portrait of her husband, the Duke of Osuna.
In this painting the Duchess is dressed in the French style of which she was a great devotee. She wears a blue outfit decorated with lace and a pink bow at the bust. Her headdress, adorned with bows and feathers, is inspired by those worn by Marie Antoinette. In her right hand she holds a fan. The face of this woman is striking, transmitting intelligence and self-confidence with a lively gaze.
See La familia del duque de Osuna for more information.
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Pinturas de GoyaMuseo Nacional del PradoMadrid1928consultant editor Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor. From April to May 1928cat. 14
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Stora Spanska MästareNationalmuseumStockholm1959cat. 134
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Goya (1746-1828). Peintures-Dessins-GravuresCentre Cultural du MaraisParís1979consultant editors Jacqueline et Maurice Guillardcat. 4
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Goya en las colecciones madrileñasMuseo Nacional del PradoMadrid1983consultant editor Enrique Lafuente Ferrari. From April 19th to June 20th 1983cat. 4
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Pintura española de bodegones y floreros de 1600 a GoyaMuseo Nacional del PradoMadrid1983consultant editor Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez, November 1983 to January 1984cat. 4
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GoyaKoninklijke Musea Voor Schone Kunsten Van BelgiëBrussels1985consultant editor Luis González Seara. From October 26th to December 22nd 1985cat. 4
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Goya y el espíritu de la IlustraciónMuseo Nacional del PradoMadrid1988from 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. Sayrecat. 6
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Painting in Spain in the Age of Enlightment: Goya and his contemporariesIndianapolis Museum of ArtIndianapolis1996from November 23th 1996 to January 19th 1997. Exhibited also at The Spanish Institute, Nueva York, Spring 1997, consultant editor Sarah Schrothcat. 46
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Goya. La imagen de la mujerMuseo Nacional del PradoMadrid2001from October 30th 2001 to February 10th 2002. Exhibitied also at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, March 10th to June 2nd 2002, consultant editor Francisco Calvo Serrallercat. 31
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Goya: Prophet der ModerneAlte NationalgalerieBerlin2005from July 13th to October 3th 2005. Exhibitied also at the Kunsthistorischemuseum, Vienna, October 18th 2005 to January 8th 2006, consultant editor Manuela B. Mena Marquéscat. 13
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Goya: Order and disorderMuseum of Fine ArtsBoston2014cat. 110
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Goya: The PortraitsLondon2015cat. 14
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GoyaBasle2021p. 86
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Vie et ouvre de Francisco de GoyaParísOffice du livre1970p. 94, cat. 220
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BarcelonaPolígrafa1970vol. I, p. 261, cat. 165
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Goya, la imagen de la mujerMadridMuseo Nacional del Prado y Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado2001pp. 180 y 181 (il.), cat. 31
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Goya en las colecciones madrileñasMadridAmigos del Museo del Prado1983pp. 120-121, nº 4
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Goya y el espíritu de la IlustraciónMadridMuseo del Prado1988pp. 150-151, nº 6
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Goya: Order & DisorderBostonMuseum of Fine Arts Boston Publications2014pp. 182-183
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LondonNational Gallery Company2015pp. 66-69