National Gallery of Art :: The Collection :: María Teresa de Borbón y Vallabriga, later Condesa de Chinchón
  • Overview
  • Inscription
  • Provenance
  • Exhibition History
  • Bibliography

Overview

Although Goya is now best known for his innovative and incisive depictions of such themes as the excitement of the bullring and horrors of the Napoleonic wars, it was as a portraitist that he first gained fame among his countrymen. In 1783, Goya was called to Arenas de San Pedro by the Infante Don Luis, brother of Charles III, to paint a family portrait. He also painted individual portraits of family members such as this one.

Ingenuous but self-assured, the future countess wears the fashionable attire of a lady of the Spanish court as she poses at the edge of a terrace. She gazes out at the viewer with an innocence very much in contrast with her adult costume and mature stance. In the style of earlier "grand-manner" portraiture, Goya may have manipulated the setting to enhance the image of the diminutive sitter, perhaps adjusting the scale of the parapet to her size and placing the wall close to her.

This is one of four portraits by Goya of María Teresa, with whom he maintained a lifelong sympathetic relationship. One of the most tragic figures at the court of Charles IV, the countess was trapped in a humiliating marriage to the King's minister, Manuel Godoy, arranged by the Queen, Maria Luisa, for her own duplicitous purposes.

Inscription

lower left: LA S.D. MARIA TERESA / HIXA DEL SER. INFANTE / D. LUIS / DE EDAD DE DOS ANOS Y NUEVE MESES (The S[enorita] D[oña] Teresa, daughter of the Most Serene Infante, Don Luis, at the age of two years and nine months); bears inventory marks from the collection at Boadilla del Monte, probably by nineteenth-century hands, at lower left: B; at lower right: 15.5

Marks and Labels

null

Provenance

Commissioned by the Infante Don Luis de Borbón [1727-1785], Palace of Arenas de San Pedro, near Avila; by inheritance to his daughter, the sitter [1779-1828], Palace at Boadilla del Monte, near Madrid;[1] by inheritance to her only child, Carlota Luisa de Godoy y Borbón [1800-1886], Condesa de Chinchón, Duquesa de Alcudia y de Sueca, Boadilla del Monte, in whose possession it was recorded in 1867 and 1886;[2] by inheritance to her son, Adolfo Ruspoli [1822-1914], Duque de Sueca, Conde de Chinchón;[3] possibly bought in or purchased by the family at his (liquidation sale, Paris, 7 February 1914);[4] his daughter, Maria Teresa Ruspoli y Alvarez de Toledo, wife of Henri-Melchior Cognet Chappuis, Comte de Maubou de la Roue, Paris;[5]; her nephew, Don Camilo Carlos Adolfo Ruspoli y Caro [1904-1975], Conde de Chinchón, Duque de Alcudia y de Sueca, Madrid, by 1951.[6] Sold by the family by March 1957 to (Wildenstein & Co., New York);[7] purchased 2 March 1959 by Ailsa Mellon Bruce, New York;[8] gift to NGA 1970.

[1]Pierre Gassier, "Les portraits peints par Goya pour l'Infant Don Luis de Borbón à Arenas de San Pedro", Revue de l'Art 43 (1979): 21, note 24.

[2] Charles Yriarte, Goya: sa biographie et le catalogue de l'oeuvre (Paris, 1867): 138; El Conde de la Viñaza, Goya: su tiempo, su vida, sus obras (Madrid, 1887): 225, no. 29. See also Gassier 1979, 21, note 26. Biographical information on the Condesa and her descendants is given by Almanach de Gotha (Leipzig, 1939): 614-615; Juan Moreno de Guerra y Alonso, Guía de la grandeza (Madrid, 1917): 52; World Nobility and Peerage, vol. 87 (London, 1955): 158, 171; Domingo Araujo Affonso, Robert Cuny, Alberto de Mestas, Simon Konarski, and Hervé Pincteau, Le sang de Louis XIV, 2 vols. (Braga, 1961), 1:192; 2:492-497.

[3] Recorded in his possession by Richard Oertel, Francisco de Goya (Leipzig, 1907): 54 and Albert F. Calvert, Goya: An Account of his Life and Peace (London, 1908): 60. Also noted in 29 November 1988 letter from Ay-Whang Hsia of Wildenstein & Co., New York, NGA curatorial files.

[4] According to Cleveland Museum of Art records (European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries; Cleveland, 1982; p. 486) for Goya's Portrait of the Infante Don Luis de Borbón, which has the same provenance as the NGA portrait, Adolfo Ruspoli died in Paris on 4 February 1914, after which his estate was liquidated on 7 February 1914. Xavier Desparmet Fitz-Gerald, L'oeuvre peint de Goya ,4 vols. (Paris, 1928-1950):2:13, no. 292 claims that this painting was in the liquidation sale. Perhaps it was bought in or purchased by the family at this time.

[5] 29 November 1988 letter from Wildenstein's.

[6] 29 November 1988 letter from Wildenstein's.

[7] 29 November 1988 letter from Wildenstein's.

[8] Purchase date from Wildenstein's is noted in the Ailsa Mellon Bruce notebook, NGA curatorial files.

Exhibition History

1986
Goya: The Condesa de Chinchon and Other Paintings, Drawings, and Prints from Spanish and American Private Collections and the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1986-1987, unpaginated brochure.
2001
Goya: La imagen de la mujer [Goya: Images of Women], Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2001-2002, no. 30 (Spanish cat.), no. 21 (English cat.), color repro.
2006
Goya e la tradizione italiana, Fondazione Magnani-Rocca, Parma, 2006, no. 27, repro.

Bibliography

1867
Yriarte, Charles. Goya, sa biographie et le catalogue de l'oeuvre. Paris, 1867: 138.
1869
Lefort, Paul. "Francisco Goya y Lucientes." In Charles Blanc et al. Histoire des peintres: école espagnole. Paris, 1869: 6, 12.
1887
Viñaza, Conde de la (Cipriano Muñoz Manzano). Goya: su tiempo, su vida, sus obras. Madrid, 1887: 225, no. 29.
1900
Lafond, Paul. "Goya." Revue de l'Art Ancien et Moderne 7 (1900): 46.
1902
Benusan, Samuel Levy. "Goya: His Times and Portraits." The Connoisseur 2 (1902): 31; 4 (1902): 122.
1907
Oertel, Richard. Francisco de Goya. Leipzig, 1907: 54-55.
1908
Calvert, Albert F. Goya: An Account of His Life and Works. London, 1908: 124, no. 60.
1914
Sentenach, Narciso. Los grandes retratistas en España. Madrid, 1914: 112-113.
1916
Beruete y Moret, Aureliano de. Goya, pintor de retratos. Madrid, 1915: 22-23, 171, no. 64. (also English ed. translated by Selwyn Brinton. London, 1922: 26-28, 205, no. 66.).
1921
Loga, Valerian von. Francisco de Goya. Berlin, 1921: 42, 188, no. 153.
1923
Mayer, August L. Francisco de Goya. Munich, 1923: 12-13, 186, no. 184. Translated by Robert West [pseud.]. London, 1924.
1928
Desparmet Fitz-Gerald, Xavier. L'oeuvre peint de Goya. 4 vols. Paris, 1928-1950: 1:15; 2:13, no. 292.
1930
Derwent, Lord George Harcourt Johnstone. Goya: An Impression of Spain. London, 1930: 32.
1951
Sánchez Cantón, Francisco Javier. Vida y obras de Goya. Madrid, 1951: 28, 167. Translated by Paul Burns. Madrid, 1964.
1964
Trapier, Elizabeth de Gué. Goya and His Sitters. New York, 1964: 2-3, 52, no. 1, figs. 1-2.
1965
Held, Jutta. "Literaturbericht: Francisco de Goya: die Gemlde." Zfk 28 (1965): 235-236.
1967
Lurie, Ann Tzeutschler. "Francisco Jos de Goya y Lucientes: Portrait of the Infante Don Luis de Borbón." Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 54 (1967): 5, fig. 7.
1970
Gassier, Pierre, and Juliet Wilson. Vie et oeuvre de Francisco Goya. Paris, 1970. Translated by C. Hauch and J. Wilson. New York, 1971: 17-18, 61, 78, 94, no. 210, color repro. 59 (also 1981 ed.: same pp. as above.).
1971
Gudiol y Ricart, José. Goya: 1746-1828; Biography, Analytical Study and Catalogue of His Paintings. Translated by Kenneth Lyons. 4 vols. New York, 1971: 1:52, 243, no. 150; 2:figs. 244, 246, color fig. 245.
1974
de Angelis, Rita. L'opera pittorica completa di Goya. Milan, 1974: 98, no. 158, repro.
1974
Walker, John. Self-Portrait with Donors. Boston, 1974: 198-200, repro. 199.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 160, repro., as Condesa de Chinchón.
1977
Wethey, Harold. "El Greco's' St. John the Evangelist with St. Francis' at the Uffizi." Pantheon 35 (1977): 205.
1978
King, Marian. Adventures in Art: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1978: 76, pl. 45.
1979
Gassier, Pierre. "Les portraits peints par Goya pour l'Infant Don Luis de Borbón à Arenas de San Pedro." La Revue de l'Art 43 (1979): 13, 18, fig. 2.
1979
Salas, Xavier de. Goya. Translated by G. T. Culverwell. London, 1979: 50, 177, no. 145, color repros. 33-35.
1981
Glendinning, Nigel. "Goya's Patrons." Apollo 114 (1981): 238.
1983
Gassier, Pierre. "Goya, pintor del Infante D. Luis de Borbón." In Goya en las collecciones madrileñas. Exh. cat. Prado, Madrid, 1983: 18.
1984
Agueda, Mercedes, and Xavier de Salas, eds. Francisco de Goya: cartas a Martín Zapater. Madrid, 1984: 107-108, no. 49; 109, n. 7; 121, n. 13.
1984
Camón Aznar, José. Francisco de Goya. 4 vols. Saragossa, 1: 150-151, repro. 274.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 401, no. 568, color repro., as Condesa de Chinchón.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 184, repro.
1986
Arnaiz, José Manuel, and Angela Montero. "Goya y el Infante Don Luis." Anticuario 27 (1986): 44-45, repros. 48, 49.
1986
Gassier, Pierre. "La contessa di Chinchón." Goya nelle collezioni private di Spagna. Exh. cat. Collezione Thyssen-Bornemisza, Lugano, 1986: 18-19, repro. 19.
1988
Symmons, Sarah. Goya: In Pursuit of Patronage. London, 1988: 98, repro. 99.
1990
Brown, Jonathan, and Richard G. Mann. Spanish Paintings of the Fifteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1990: 27-32, color repro. 28.
1991
Gingold, Diane J. and Elizabeth A.C. Weil. The Corporate Patron. New York, 1991: 151, color repro.
1991
Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 263.
1992
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 89, repro.
2001
Goya: Images of Women. Exh. cat. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001-2002: no. 21.
2003
Hughes, Robert. Goya. New York, 2003: 113-114, color repro.

Related Works

Related Resources

  • Event Type
    Event Name
    March 1–June 1
    Mon, Tues, and Wed at 1:00
    March 5, 2012 at 2:00
    March 7, 2012 at 4:00
    East Building, Auditorium
    Name of docent
    image:
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum
    60 minutes
    Registration for this event begins on April 1, 2012 at noon.
    Register for this event
    Download the program notes (100k)
  • Self-Guided Tour
    Italian Collection
    image:
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum