Follower of Francisco de Goya

Follower of FRANCISCO DE GOYA (Fuendetodos, Zaragoza, 1746 - Bordeaux, France, 1828).
"Portrait of Narcisa de Narcisa Barañana de Goicoechea".
Oil on canvas canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 111 x 78 cm; 125 x 91 cm (frame).
This canvas takes as direct reference the Goyaesque model preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 29.100.180). The sitter, Narcisa Barañana de Goicoechea, belonged to the sphere of the well-to-do bourgeoisie or minor nobility, whose representation in the eighteenth-century portrait responds both to social aspirations and to the affirmation of individual identity. In keeping with Goya's model, the figure is presented with sobriety and dignity, avoiding the excessive theatricality of the previous court portrait. The pose conveys a restrained naturalness, while the clothing, elegant but not ostentatious, underlines an ideal of decorum and distinction.
From the stylistic point of view, the work reflects the partial assimilation of the Goyaesque language: a looser brushstroke than the academic one, a particular attention to the psychological capture. However, as befits a follower, these features appear moderated or reinterpreted, with a more restrained execution and less expressive intensity. The portrait is evidence of the diffusion of the Goyaesque model in his immediate environment and its influence on contemporary or later artists.
By 1790 Goya enjoyed a privileged position at the Spanish court, and his works for the Royal Tapestry Factory of Santa Barbara were admired and recognized by the painters of the capital. It is in this context that the work presented here is situated, a reflection of the influence that Goya's tapestry cartoons exerted on his contemporaries. Although it is not usual in the master's works, here a scene of a religious nature is narrated. From the reign of Carlos III onwards, painters would strive to represent typically Spanish motifs, in line with the picturesque style of the theatrical sainetes of Ramón de la Cruz or the popular prints of Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla. However, in the formal aspect the influence of Goya is direct; abandoning the strict classicist, draftsmanlike and rigorous academicism, in works like this one a strictly modern language is developed, with a loose and undone invoice, focusing the painters not only in describing, but above all in capturing the atmospheric, luminous and chromatic impressions.