Circle of Francisco de Goya; 19th century.

Circle of FRANCISCO DE GOYA Y LUCIENTES (Fuendetodos, Zaragoza, 1746 – Bordeaux, France, 1828).
“Portrait of Jovellanos.”
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 42 x 32 cm; 49 x 39 cm (frame).
Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (Spain, 1744–1811) became one of the symbols of the Enlightenment. He explored various literary genres, but his principal writings were essays on economics, politics, agriculture, philosophy, and social customs, all informed by the reformist spirit of enlightened despotism. In this work, with loose and vibrant brushstrokes, the artist depicts a serene figure exuding authority, evident in his gaze and his decisive gesture. Both the technique and the depiction of Jovellanos himself—a friend of Goya’s—suggest that the artist behind this piece was influenced by the master from Fuendetodos.
One of the most outstanding painters in the entire history of world art, Francisco de Goya received his first lessons in drawing and painting from José Luzán Martínez, who taught at his home and also at the Academy of Drawing founded in Zaragoza in 1754. After three years of study with this teacher, Goya applied for a scholarship from the Royal Academy of San Fernando in 1763, at the age of seventeen. It appears that by then he was already a student of Francisco Bayeu, who had returned from the court. However, Goya was unable to gain admission to the Academy, nor was he successful when he tried again in 1766. Around 1770, he undertook a trip to Italy to further his training and improve his prospects. While there, he demonstrated his early penchant for the grotesque and the satirical. After a long career, Goya was replaced as Court Painter by Vicente López, and he sank into a period of isolation, bitterness, and illness that led him to retreat to the Quinta del Sordo, on the outskirts of Madrid, where he would create his masterpiece: the Black Paintings. Fed up with the absolutism imposed by Ferdinand VII in Spain, Goya finally left for France in 1824, where he reunited with exiled liberal friends. There he spent his final years and created his last work, “The Milkmaid of Bordeaux,” in which he foreshadowed Impressionism. Today, his work is part of the world’s most prominent art collections, ranging from the Prado Museum to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, including the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Louvre in Paris, and the National Gallery in London.