Spanish school of the XVIII century

Spanish school of the 18th century. Circle of FRANCISCO DE GOYA Y LUCIENTES (Fuendetodos, Zaragoza, 1746 - Bordeaux, France, 1828).
"Portrait of a lady", c. 1790.
Oil on canvas relined.
Measurements: 80 x 58 cm; 97 x 78 cm (frame).

Representative example of the Spanish feminine portrait of the end of the XVIII century, close to the artistic environment of Francisco de Goya, realized in a moment of consolidation of a new portrait language characterized by the psychological naturalness and the compositional sobriety. The work presents a half-length figure of a lady, seated in an armchair with a golden back, on a neutral and dark background that concentrates the attention on the face and hands. The treatment of the figure reveals a clear desire for truthfulness, moving away from the rigid court portrait to offer a more intimate and direct image, a distinctive feature of the Goyaesque circle around 1790. The refined study of the facial expression stands out, resolved with a loose and nuanced brushstroke that softens the features without idealizing them excessively. The delicate modeling of the face contrasts with the precision in the representation of the lace of the shawl and the details of the attire, where the pictorial matter becomes more descriptive, combining transparencies and impastoed touches. The inclusion of the book in the hand of the sitter introduces a symbolic element associated with culture and education, frequent in the illustrated portrait of the time, and reinforces the connection with the values of the Enlightenment that permeated the intellectual environment of Madrid in which Goya and his circle moved. Because of its technical quality, its sensitivity in capturing character and its stylistic affinity with the models developed by Goya in these years, the work can be placed coherently within his immediate environment, reflecting the assimilation of his innovations by artists close to his circle.

The artist, who belonged to the circle of Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, continues the formal characteristics that determined the work of the great master of Fuendetodos, whose nineteenth-century art marked a before and after in Spanish painting. Goya was the great court portraitist of the Spanish 18th century, and his influence can be appreciated in the portrait painting of the time, creating a powerful artistic circle that reflected his enormous pictorial personality. At the end of the century, given the rise of the high bourgeoisie and the prosperity of the nobility, commissions from the wealthiest families proliferated. Specifically in female portraiture, the painter from Fuendetodos displayed his skill in capturing both the tactile qualities of the sumptuous garments and the character of his models.