Francisco de Goya

María Teresa de Vallabriga on Horseback (María Teresa de Vallabriga a caballo)

María Teresa de Vallabriga on Horseback (María Teresa de Vallabriga a caballo)
Datos Generales
Cronología
1783
Ubicación
The Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
Dimensiones
82.5 x 61.7 cm
Técnica y soporte
Oil on wood panel
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Undisputed work
Titular
Istituti Museali della Soprintendenza Speciale per il Polo Museale Fiorentino
Ficha: realización/revisión
08 Mar 2010 / 01 Jun 2023
Inventario
9484
Historia

Goya probably painted this sketch in 1783, during his first summer in Arenas de San Pedro (Ávila), in order to make the finished painting (now lost) from it later in Madrid. The final painting was almost certainly commissioned as a companion piece to that of the Infante, painted by Francesco Sasso en 1767.

Análisis artístico

This is a preparatory sketch of the Infante Luis Antonio de Bourbon's wife on horseback, looking forwards and wearing a blue riding outfit. Her head is extravagantly decorated with feathers and she is holding the animal's reins with great poise, her posture reminiscent of the equestrian portraits by Velázquez which Goya made etchings of in around 1777-1778.

The painter has situated the figure in a natural setting, with the backdrop probably representing the Sierra de Gredos mountains. According to Manuela Mena, the scenery and the exquisitely painted plants in the foreground tie this sketch to the portrait of the daughter of the Infanta, María Teresa de Bourbon, the futureCountess of Chinchón, painted in 1783.

In the letter that Goya wrote in Madrid to his close friend Martín Zapater on 2 July 1784, he mentions the finished painting: My dearest Martín: I am skinny and I am not working much. I still have not finished the horseback portrait of the Infante's wife, but there is not much left to do.

For more biographical information, see Mª Teresa de Vallabriga.

 

Exposiciones
  • Goya. El Capricho y la Invención. Cuadros de gabinete, bocetos y miniaturas
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1993
    from November 18th 1993 to February 15th 1994. Exhibited also at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, March 18th to June 12th 1994 and The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, July 16th to October 16th 1994, consultant editors Manuela B. Mena Marqués and Juliet Wilson-Bareau
  • Goya: Prophet der Moderne
    Alte Nationalgalerie
    Berlin
    2005
    from July 13th to October 3th 2005. Exhibitied also at the Kunsthistorischemuseum, Vienna, October 18th 2005 to January 8th 2006, consultant editor Manuela B. Mena Marqués
  • Goya y el infante don Luis: el exilio y el reino.
    Palacio Real, Madrid
    Madrid
    2012
    Arte y ciencia en la época de la ilustración española. Responsable científico Francisco Calvo Serraller. Del octubre de 2012 a enero de 2013.
  • Goya: The Portraits
    London
    2015
Bibliografía
  • MENA, Manuela B. y WILSON-BAREAU, Juliet (comisarias)
    Goya. El capricho y la invención. Cuadros de gabinete, bocetos y miniaturas
    MadridMuseo del Prado
    1993
    pp. 248 y 249 (il.)
  • GOYA Y LUCIENTES, Francisco de
    Cartas a Martín Zapater
    MadridIstmo
    2003
    p. 173, nº 53
  • BRAY, Xavier
    LondonNational Gallery Company
    2015
    p. 43
Enlaces externos
Volver
Usamos cookies propias y de terceros para mejorar su navegación. Si continua navegando consideramos que acepta el uso de cookies.