Francisco de Goya

Rafael Esteve

Rafael Esteve
Datos Generales
Cronología
1815
Ubicación
Valencia Museum of Fine Arts, Valencia, Spain
Dimensiones
100.6 x 75.5 cm
Técnica y soporte
Oil on canvas
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Documented work
Titular
Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos
Ficha: realización/revisión
15 Apr 2010 / 16 Jun 2023
Inventario
(584)
Inscripciones

D.n Rafael Esteve P.r Goya 1815 ("Don Rafael Esteve, By Goya, 1815", on the back of the copper plate).

Historia

Goya probably painted this portrait of his colleague and friend in 1815, to commemorate Esteve being named Court Engraver.

The work belonged to the sitter and was inherited by his descendants. Antonio Esteve, his nephew, donated it to the Royal Academy of San Carlos, Valencia, in 1818.

Análisis artístico

Rafael Esteve y Vilella (Valencia, 1772-Madrid, 1847) was a renowned engraver, the son of the sculptor José Esteve Bonet and cousin of the painter Agustín Esteve y Marqués, with whom Goya had worked before. It was perhaps through his cousin that his professional relationship with Goya began, and which ended up with the two men becoming good friends. It has been suggested that they worked together on Goya's Bullfighting series of prints.

The engraver is shown here seated in an elegant chair, upholstered in yellow, in front of his desk, of the same colour, with an upright posture and his left hand on his hip. In his right hand he holds a burin and a copper plate which he is resting on the table. On top of this table we can see a print and all those elements that allude to the sitter's profession, of which he was evidently proud. Esteve's posture, his pose and impeccable attire, consisting of a black jacket, white shirt with frills, and black tie, give him a certain air of superiority, which is heightened by the low viewpoint that Goya has employed and which obliges the engraver to look down at the viewer. His face reflects the confidence of a well-known artist who, shortly after the realization of this portrait, was to become the director of the National Chalcography.

The Lázaro Galdiano Museum has a short bust portrait of the engraver (inv. 2351) which used to be attributed to Goya due to the fact that it is similar in appearance to this portrait, and also because it belonged to Rosario Weiss.

Exposiciones
  • De Barnaba da Modena a Francisco de Goya
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1939
    Exposición de pinturas de los siglos XIV al XIX recuperadas por España, consultant editors Francisco Javier Sánchez Cantón. July 1939
  • Goya
    Festival Internacional de Granada, Palacio de Carlos V
    Granada
    1955
    consultant editor Enrique Lafuente Ferrari
  • El arte de Goya
    Museo de Arte Occidental de Tokio
    Tokyo
    1971
    from 16th 1971 to January 23th 1972. Exhibited also at the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, January 29th to March 15th 1972.
  • Pintura Espanhola do Século XIX
    Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian
    Lisboa
    1974
    From June to July 1974
  • Peinture espagnole du XVI á XIX siècle. Peinture espagnole du Museo San Pío V de Valence
    Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art
    Sapporo
    1991
  • El món de Goya y López en el Museo Sant Pius V
    Museo San Pio V
    Valencia
    1992
    consultant editor Rafael Gil Salinas. From March to May 1992
  • Goya
    La Lonja, Torreón Fortea y Museo Pablo Gargallo
    Zaragoza
    1992
    consultant editor Julián Gállego
  • Realidad e imagen. Goya 1746 – 1828
    Museo de Zaragoza
    Zaragoza
    1996
    consultant editor Federico Torralba Soriano. From October 3th to December 1st 1996
  • Goya, un regard libre
    Palais de Beaux Arts
    Lille
    1998
    from December 12th 1998 to March 14th 1999. Exhibited also at The Philadelphia Museum, Philadelphia, April 17th 1999 to July 11th 1999, consultant editor Arnauld Brejon de Lavergnée and Joseph J. Rishel in collaboration with Manuela B. Mena Marqués
  • 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 en tiempos de guerra
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    2008
    consultant editor Manuela B. Mena Marqués, from April 14th to July 13th 2008
  • Goya: The Portraits
    London
    2015
Bibliografía
  • DESPARMET FITZ - GERALD, Xavier
    L'œuvre peint de Goya. 4 vols
    París
    1928-1950
    vol. II, p. 204, cat. 493
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    pp. 228, 297, 377, cat. 1550 y p. 229 (i
  • GUDIOL RICART, José
    BarcelonaPolígrafa
    1970
    vol. I, p. 365, cat. 645
  • ANGELIS, Rita de
    L’opera pittorica completa di Goya
    MilanRizzoli
    1974
    1974, p. 129, cat. 588
  • CAMÓN AZNAR, José
    Francisco de Goya, 4 vols.
    ZaragozaCaja de Ahorros de Zaragoza, Aragón y Rioja
    1980-1982
    vol. IV. p. 38 y p. 282 (il.), vol. III,
  • TORRALBA SORIANO, Federico (comisario)
    Realidad e imagen. Goya 1746 – 1828
    MadridGobierno de Aragón y Electa España
    1996
    p. 176, cat. 62 y p. 177 (il.)
  • MENA MARQUÉS, Manuela B.
    Goya en tiempos de guerra
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado
    2008
    p. 454, cat. 166 y p. 455 (il.)
  • BRAY, Xavier
    LondonNational Gallery Company
    2015
    pp. 142-143
Enlaces externos
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