Retrato do Marquês de Caballero (Portrait of the Marquis de Caballero, Seated Three-Quarter Length, Wearing Uniform, the Cross of Carlos III and the Badge of the Order of Santiago) - Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes e Estúdio

Retrato do Marquês de Caballero (Portrait of the Marquis de Caballero, Seated Three-Quarter Length, Wearing Uniform, the Cross of Carlos III and the Badge of the Order of Santiago) - Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes e Estúdio
Coleção privada
OST - 105x84 - 1807





One of the most influential painters of his time, Francisco de Goya excelled in a range of media and styles, from drawing and aquatint to large-scale oils and tapestry design, from fantastical and gruesome depictions of war to grand, formal portraiture such as the present work. From early in his career Goya made his name as a portraitist, and in the decades before the fall of the Spanish monarchy he was an extremely successful court painter to the royal family of King Charles IV and subsequently the aristocrats in their circle. His ability to capture the essence and intimate personality of a sitter while continuing to convey their grandeur and power as political figures was unmatched, and his flickering, impressionist brushwork made these portraits brilliant as paintings in their own right.
Goya painted José Antonio Caballero (1754 - 1821), the Secretary of State for Grace and Justice in 1807, the year he inherited the title of Marquis de Caballero from his uncle. The Marquis is shown in his ministerial uniform, seated in a red armchair which further brings out the bright colors of his highly decorated costume. His coat is black but embroidered extensively with gold decoration, as is the bright red waistcoat beneath. He looks directly at the viewer, with a great sense of stature and power, while bringing his right hand to his waist and holding papers in his left. A powder blue and white sash is delicately draped across his chest, pinned with the Order of the Grand Cross, though it is the bright white insignia of a knight of the Order of Santiago, pinned to the black coat, which stands out the most.
The portrait is signed and dated to 1807, just as Spain was on the brink of political upheaval which would lead to a great shift in Goya's long and notable career. With Napoleon's invasion in 1808, Goya's time painting royal portraits such as the present example would wane, and he would spend the next decade or two working on some of his most arresting and transformative works, exposing the horrors of war in an increasingly dark and experimental manner. Upon the return of Ferdinand VII to the throne in 1823, Goya went into hiding and in 1824 petitioned for a leave of absence from his duties as court painter. His final years were spent in relative solitude in Bordeaux and Paris until his death in 1828.
In the same year Goya painted a pendant portrait of the Marquis de Caballero's wife, María Soledad Rocha Fernández de la Peña, the Marquise de Caballero, the prime version of which is now in the Neue Pinakothek, Munich. Two further autograph replicas of her portrait were completed: one now is in the Montero de Espinosa collection, Madrid, and another formerly in the collection of the Dukes of Andría and now in a private American collection.
Another version of this portrait is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. That painting was formerly in the Marquis de Corvera collection and has traditionally been identified as the prime version of the portrait. More recently, scholars have re-examined the present painting and, given the quality, recognize that it as an autograph version of the Budapest picture, perhaps with some workshop participation. Prior to his death, Dr. William B. Jordan viewed this painting firsthand and believed it was likely to have been completed almost entirely by Goya himself; in fact, he recognized the present painting as the prime version of the portrait, instead of the Budapest picture.
A further, unfinished version of the portrait is in the MFA Houston, though its attribution remains a point of discussion.
The prominent industrialist and arts patron Oscar B. Cintas (1887-1957) made his fortune in the sugar and railroad businesses and served as Cuba's Ambassador to the United States from 1932-34. Throughout his life he was a passionate collector of art, and he assembled a magnificent collection of European Old Masters by the likes of Rembrandt, Bellini, Moroni and El Greco; American paintings by 20th century masters including George Bellows; and renowned historical documents including the only first edition of Don Quixote and the fifth and final manuscript of Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" which he bequeathed to the nation and remains on display in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House. Shortly before his death, Cintas formed the CINTAS Foundation (originally called the Cuban Art Foundation), which is dedicated to supporting artists of Cuban descent. The Foundation oversees two important collections of art: contemporary work produced by CINTAS Fellows, as well as a group of Spanish Old Masters.