T O WA R D S G O YA ’ S R O YA L C O U P L E S
THE EVOLUTION OF THE OFFICIAL ICONOGRAPHY OF CHARLES IV
José Manuel de la Mano *
AND MARIA LUISA OF PARMA THROUGH THEIR COURT PAINTERS
In Spanish society during the Enlightenment, the monarchy’s public image extended to a multitude
of facets of courtly life. In palace circles, it took the form of programmatic allegories in the different
residences that were intended to glorify the virtues of their royal inhabitants. In the more public
sphere it was achieved through a succession of prototypes of portraiture that were updated as the
dynastic program evolved. The iconography exemplified in Spain’s Century of Lights by Charles of
Bourbon and Maria Luisa of Parma is one of the most fascinating, due to the longevity of their
public life and the quality of the painters who depicted them. Through these portraits we can certainly investigate not only the evolution of Spanish painting at that time, but also the modernization
of the political message the monarchs sought to project to their subjects. The profuse official documentation surrounding many of those canvases as well as their effect at court and on the ministers
concerned with such matters, show how these commissions were often treated as matters of state.
Our current image of Charles and Maria Luisa is almost exclusively derived from the one projected
by Francisco de Goya in 1789 and 1799–1800. For their contemporaries, however, Goya’s images
competed with those of many other colleagues working for the Royal Chamber.
In the severe etiquette of the Ancien Régime, likenesses of the royal family served as substitutes for their physical presence at innumerable acts and ceremonies. In fact, in the case of
Charles and Maria Luisa, this practice began almost before they were married, as the arrangement
of such a politically significant marriage included the exchange of portraits to palliate what was
then an insurmountable geographic distance between the two. At an undetermined date in 1764,
the Spanish court sent a box to Parma. It was decorated with porcelain plaques, possibly from the
Buen Retiro Porcelain Factory, and had a portrait of Charles inside.1 A similar gesture was made
3
by the court of Parma. The marriage agreement was ratified in early November 17642 and that
was the beginning of frenetic diplomatic activity. There was abundant correspondence between
the future bride and groom over the months before the future Princess of Asturias left for Spain,
and their respective parents commissioned portraits of them by the finest painters available at
each court. The function of the initial canvases exchanged by the two branches of the Bourbon
family is still not entirely clear, though they may have been used to mitigate the absence of the
youths at some of the wedding procedures carried out by power of attorney that preceded the official ceremony at La Granja de San Ildefonso in 1765.
This practically ambassadorial exchange of images allowed Maria Luisa to discover her fiancé
through a masterful portrait by Mengs (Parma, Galleria Nazionale, inv. 2077). At the same time,
while awaiting Maria Luisa’s arrival, Charles was able to contemplate her visage in a monumental
canvas by Laurent Pécheux (1729–1821) now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (fig.
20). Ever since Charles III and his family’s arrival in Spain from Naples, Prince Charles had been
portrayed in pastels—at times by Lorenzo Tiepolo (1736–1776), and others by Joaquín Inza (1736–
1811).3 This choice of second-rate painters was due to the fact that Spain’s finest artists were busy at
that time with the frescoes for the main quarters at the New Royal Palace in Madrid. Nevertheless,
the diplomatic importance of the pre-matrimonial exchange of portraits was such that the King assigned his first court painter, Anton Raphael Mengs, to the job. Along with this royal commission,
Mengs was simultaneously being consulted about the iconographic model to be adopted for Prince
Charles, which would be the source of the commemorative medal coined for the wedding.4
Meanwhile, once the marriage contract was ratified in Parma, Philip of Bourbon sought the
ideal painter for his daughter’s portrait. In late 1764 he commissioned Laurent Pécheux, who traveled to Parma from Rome to paint the work. Pécheux would later write:
In January 1765, I was called to Parma by Duke Philippe to make a portrait of his daughter,
Princess Louise, who was engaged to the Prince of Asturias, now King of Spain. This very
large and rich canvas was sent to Madrid around May and was applauded by the King.5
A native of Lyon, Pécheux had studied under Mengs in Rome, and it has sometimes been stated
that he was called to Parma on the recommendation of his teacher.6 In fact, it was due to the
Duke’s admiration for his sketch of a double portrait of the Maltese ambassador and the Jesuit,
Fig. 20
François Jacquier.
Laurent Pécheux, Maria Luisa
of Parma, 1765, oil on canvas,
230 x 164 cm. New York,
The painter is coming from Rome: he will be here shortly. This man has never wanted to
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
leave as far as I . . . his sketch of two very well-known men painted on the same canvas:
Bequest of Annie C. Kane,
1926 [26.260.9]
The Ambassador of Malta and the renowned P. Jacquier. To tell you the truth, I was
struck, not only by the resemblance, but also by the proper appearance and the compo-
And just as Guillaume du Tillot warns his representative before the Spanish Crown, there was no
sition. The moment he arrives, I will put him to work, and I will say no more about it
more news about this royal commission until it was completed. On March 17 of that year, Juan
until I have sent Your Excellency the finished portrait, even though I am scolded about it
Domingo Pignatelli wrote the Marquis of Grimaldi from Parma: “the portrait of Princess [Maria]
by the King, the Prince and yourself, I will bow my head and take the blows, but I will
Luisa is totally finalized and such a good likeness that only her voice is missing. The Princess’s
keep my mouth shut and send a good and Beautiful Portrait.
precious health is unchanged.”8 Pignatelli wrote to Madrid again on March 31, observing in a
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postscript: “this courier bears the portrait of Princess Luisa, which is a very good likeness and well
para un retiro espiritual (Christian Meditations for a Spiritual Retreat), and another listed in the
painted.”9 When this letter was published, it was thought to be a reference to the portrait attrib-
inventory of Mengs’s studio following his death: “The Princess of Asturias is shown full length
uted to Giuseppe Baldrighi, now at the palace in El Pardo [cat. 9]. It is more likely, however, that
before she moved to Spain in the manner of Percheux [sic].”15 But of all these early copies, the
this letter refers to Pécheux’s portrait, and the proof lies in an official notification of April 14,
most interesting for our study may be the one found hanging in the staircase of Toledo’s City Hall,
1765, in which Minister Du Tillot informs Grimaldi:
which supports the idea that, besides the one now at the Metropolitan Museum, another portrait
10
by Pécheux was also sent to Spain. This canvas, which has yet to be located, must have been a
I spoke no more of the Portrait; I suffered too much from the justifiable impatience [for
half-length portrait of Maria Luisa with a fan in her left hand, and in the right, a sumptuous dia-
it], and from the slowness that cannot be avoided in this sort of task. Your Excellency will
mond-studded miniature of her father.
have received it by now, and my wish is that if the Painter, who is a man of unquestion-
Mengs spent the court’s sojourn in Aranjuez in 1766 painting the Prince and Princess of As-
able talent, has been able to paint the soul, the enchanting capacity to please and the
turias from life.16 In mid-August, he personally carried both portraits to El Escorial to show them
happy charm that come with grace and goodness, then You will have a true and perfect
to Charles III. Having received the King’s approval, this inaugural prototype eclipsed any other
Portrait.11
iconographic candidate for over a decade. Now at the Museo del Prado (P–2188 and P–2189),
these portraits have been the subject of profuse analysis in a multitude of monographs and cata-
This portrait arrived in Spain at a time when the court was sojourning in Madrid. Despite its careful
log entries. Nevertheless, until now, it has always been thought that these were the only paintings
packaging, it was damaged during the trip. At the artist’s suggestion, it was restored by Mengs.12
of the royal couple made by Mengs at that time; a pair of pendant paintings with Charles dressed
The two portraits of the fiancés form a virtual couple, yet they have never been exhibited
together, although they undoubtedly constitute the first political message projected by both royal
out that the brilliant first court painter might well have painted a more official prototype as well.
families through the iconography of their heirs, Charles and Maria Luisa. As a result of the geo-
This supposition stems from the recent discovery at the Hermitage Museum of a pair of full-length
graphical distance, the predominant interest of those responsible for commissioning these works
portraits based on partially unknown Mengsian models, especially in the case of Prince Charles
was scrupulous veracity in the representation of the sitters. As mentioned above, the decision to
(figs. 21 and 22).17 The diplomatic initiative of sending these works to Russia is documented in a
bring Laurent Pécheux from Rome reflects the importance that the ministers in Parma assigned to
letter of February 6, 1773, in which the Marquis of Grimaldi informs Montealegre that “The Em-
his tremendous capacity to paint from life. In this painterly play of real and simulated, we cannot
press of Russia has requested portraits of the King and of the Prince and Princess. Francisco
forget how Philip of Bourbon actually measured the portrait to be sure it was the same height as
Bayeu and Mariano Maella have been ordered to make them, and it has been decided that they
his daughter. At the same time, Mengs, the painter-philosopher, goes beyond a mere reproduc-
should copy those made by Rafael Mengs. His Majesty has resolved that Bayeu and Maella be
tion of Prince Charles’s features to present him to his future in-laws as a modern enlightened
given permission to take them to their houses in order to more comfortably copy them.”18
13
prince, depicting a set of geometrical exercises on the table beside him with clear programmatic
While this job was initially assigned to Francisco Bayeu and Mariano Maella, later docu-
intent. Style was also a determining factor in both canvases, and Minister Du Tillot informed
ments indicate that in the end, the entire commission was carried out by Maella. As Ceán
Grimaldi that the only clothing in Maria Luisa’s trousseau were dresses of the sort in fashion in
Bermúdez reported: “at that time [1780] he also painted five other portraits of the same size for
Versailles, as that was the custom in Parma and also because, while the differences might be mini-
the court of Russia, which represented the mentioned King Charles III, his son, Charles IV and his
mal, her couturier did not know “the way of making and adorning them [the clothing] customary
august wife, when they were still Prince and Princess of Asturias, along with the King and Queen
at the Spanish court.” Charles appears in his own portrait dressed in the reigning Spanish style.
of Naples.” While only images of the Spanish monarchs seem to have been requested from Russia,
Moreover, the subtle allusions to their respective fiancés in both compositions constitute a pro-
for reasons yet unknown, that request was later expanded to include the Neapolitan monarchs.
grammatic play of emotions far removed from the future prototypes of their official portraits.
This delayed cabinet was requested by Catherine II for an impressive gallery of portraits of the
14
Following the Prince and Princess of Asturias’s wedding at La Granja, celebrations were
European monarchs at Chesmensky Palace, which was then under construction on the outskirts
held at most of the city halls throughout the kingdom, which called for portraits of the newly
of Saint Petersburg. A Russian description from 1782 indicates that “The first hall had the portraits
married couple. In those months, Charles’s iconography offered a broad spectrum of potential
of Catherine II and her family. Further on, there was a detailed list of other halls with portraits of
images from which to choose, while quite the opposite was true for his new wife. The total lack
the royal families of England, Denmark, Sweden, France, Prussia, Portugal, Spain, Sardinia, Sicily,
of portraits of the new Princess of Asturias led to the adoption of Laurent Pécheux’s depiction for
the Roman Emperor, Joseph II, the Stadtholder of the Low Countries and Prince of Orange, and
her iconography between late 1765 and spring 1766, when Mengs’s portrait defined the new one.
even a portrait of the Roman Pope, Clement XIV.”19
This is demonstrated by various Spanish copies of Pécheux’s work, including one drawn by Mari6
in hunting garb and Maria Luisa in the gardens at Aranjuez. Now, however, I would like to point
ano Maella as a visual prologue to Infanta Isabel of Bourbon’s book, Meditaciones Christianas
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In those circumstances, Charles III must have been aware of the unquestionable importance of having monumental paintings of the Spanish Bourbons on show there. We can imagine
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that each addition to the Tsarina’s portrait gallery must have constituted a true act of dynastic exaltation, and the Count of Lacy, Spain’s ambassador to that remote court, reported to that effect in
a letter to the Marquis of Grimaldi dated October 11, 1774: “the Chamberlain Baron Erensward,
envoy to this Court to announce on behalf of his Lord, the King of Sweden, the marriage of the
Duke of Suderman, has presented these days the portrait of H. M. of Sweden, sent by this
Monarch to the Tsarina. Its expression and fineness has been appreciatively recognized by Her
Imperial Majesty, who is assembling a complete collection of portraits of all the Sovereigns currently Reigning in Europe.”20 No chronicle of the arrival of Maella’s emblematic portraits in Saint
Petersburg has yet been found, but we can imagine that the ceremony surrounding their presentation to Catherine II would have been used by Spanish dignitaries to strengthen diplomatic relations between the two monarchies.
Of this previously unknown iconography by Mengs of the Prince and Princess of Asturias,
the greatest difference appears in the image of the future Charles IV, as the portrait of Maria Luisa
Fig. 21
Mariano Salvador Maella,
Charles of Bourbon, Prince
of Asturias, 1773–80, oil on canvas,
236 x 170 cm. Saint Petersburg,
Hermitage Museum [GE–4433]
Fig. 22
of Parma reproduces the painter’s known portrait, except that it is full-length and the setting is a
Mariano Salvador Maella,
palace, rather than the balustrade of a garden. The discovery of this painting made for one of
Maria Luisa of Parma, Princess
Catherine the Great’s palaces also strengthens the attribution to Maella of a drawing in the Carderera collection that has often been attributed to Mengs.21 All the same, in his prototype of the
of Asturias, 1773–80, oil on canvas,
237 x 168 cm. Saint Petersburg,
Hermitage Museum [GE–4591]
Prince, Maella draws on a model by Mengs that is totally unknown in his historiography. The face
is undoubtedly the same as in Mengs’s depiction of Charles as a hunter, but rather than posing
plary domestic princess in which the jewel subtly evokes love and virtue. Present-day observers
with the corresponding garb, he appears here in sumptuous court clothing and wears all the
contemplating any likeness of Maria Luisa may be unable to free themselves of prejudices
chains of office of his orders. This allows us to hypothesize that Mengs may have developed two
formed by centuries of programmatic vilification, but let us not forget that when this work was
prototypes, so that one or the other could be reproduced according to the greater or lesser
painted, her contemporaries considered her a devoted mother, a virtuous wife, and a model for
solemnity of its intended destination. This iconographic coexistence would confirm Andrés de la
all to follow.23
Calleja’s observation while establishing the vast catalog of Mengs’s works that he “duplicated
some [portraits] of the Most Serene Prince and Princess.”22
Mengs’s official prototype for portraits of Charles and Maria Luisa was in force from 1766
8
The death of Charles III in December 1788 and the subsequent proclamation of Charles IV
marked a fundamental change of direction in the fascinating evolution of Charles and Maria Luisa’s
iconography. The new monarchs’ coronation coincided with the bloody French Revolution, which
to almost 1782, when Charles III commissioned Mariano Maella to sketch some new and modern
was a death knell for Ancien Régime society. The political convenience of projecting an image of
images of the Prince and Princess of Asturias. In several letters, Maella proudly boasted of the
strength to their subjects, without ever forgetting that their French counterparts were imprisoned at
royal favor that allowed him to paint the couple “from life.” That updated depiction has been
the people’s behest, was an underlying factor in any commission of their court painters to create
identified as the basis for a multitude of versions in institutions and private collections, but with-
portraits for public use. Until then, the formal representation of Charles and Maria Luisa had gone
out doubt, the finest ones are those of the couple now at the Monastery of the Incarnation in
unchanged for over two decades, but in 1789 its iconography progressed with uncommon speed
Madrid (Patrimonio Nacional, Real Monasterio de la Encarnación, inv. nos. 00621508 and
in response to the profound transformations taking place in Spanish society. The appearance at
00621509), although there the painter depicts them as monarchs. Comparing Maella’s 1782 proto-
that point of Francisco de Goya logically had a fundamental effect on the shaping of a decorous
type with the immediate predecessor painted by his teacher Mengs in 1766, we see not only the
image of the monarchs, although we should never lose sight of the fact that from then until the
implacable effects of time on the models’ faces but, more importantly, a fundamental shift in the
end of the century, his successive likenesses coexisted with many other royal images. The clearest
political message the monarchy seeks to project through the Prince and Princess of Asturias. The
proof may well lie in the coronation ceremony of September 1789, when Goya’s canvases openly
adolescent Charles, whose main interest seemed to lie in hunting, has become the unquestion-
competed with others in the streets of Madrid. From our present-day perspective, Goya’s canvases
able heir to the throne, worthy of assuming his obligations upon his father’s demise. Alongside
would have stood out for their modernity, compared to others that must have been much more
this projection of Charles’s royal mastery, Maella’s Maria Luisa appears with her hands in the
old-fashioned. But today’s artistic evaluation would not have been shared by the people of Madrid
same position as in Mengs’s portrait. But her necklace bears a cut ruby pendant shaped mean-
at that time. From here on, we will attempt to analyze the clear changes in the monarchs’ political
ingfully like a heart. So Mengs’s feminine icon of tender youth has evolved into that of an exem-
message through Goya’s successive portraits of them, without losing track of the compositional
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alternatives proposed by Francisco Bayeu, Mariano Maella, Zacarías González Velázquez (1763–
Esteve (1753–ca. 1820) worked side by side in a frenetic campaign to reproduce this successful
1834), Antonio Carnicero (1748–1814), and Francisco Folch de Cardona (1744–1808). While art his-
iconographic model. In that context, it seems paradoxical that, while the monarchs kept none of
tory has relegated these contemporaneous royal likenesses due to their lesser pictorial quality, we
Goya’s original portraits for the Royal Collection and hung none of them in the New Royal Palace
should not overlook the fact that in their struggle for the attention of their royal patrons they often
in Madrid, they did call for replicas for an as yet undetermined courtly use.
Around those months of 1789, as has already been explained, Francisco de Goya made sev-
had as much importance at court as Goya’s creations.
Since the beginning of 1789, the requirement to fly the royal flag at all city halls in the
eral variations on this original prototype. The original composition almost certainly corresponded to
presence of portraits of the monarchs unleashed a frenetic campaign to obtain royal images. In
the one transcribed in the three-quarter-length portraits reproduced for Seville. He would later
Madrid, many of the portraits on sale were so poor that the City Government itself ordered their
return to those same images in a slightly larger format for the canopy of the Real Academia de la
confiscation, calling on the Real Academia de San Fernando to try to put a stop to the lamentable
Historia. Finally, the least similar version was conceived for the Count of Campomanes’s palace in
spectacle. In that context, Goya’s early involvement in the much-needed development of an ap-
Madrid.27 While autograph versions of the first two models are known today, the last one mentioned
propriate image of the monarchs stems not only from his greater or lesser proximity to the new
is known only through a replica painted some time later by José Camarón y Meliá (1760–1819)28 for
sovereigns, but also to the fact that he was available at that time. In fact, several of his potential
the halls of the Royal Court of Cáceres.29 There, curiously, the King’s pose corresponds with the
competitors, including Mariano Maella and Francisco Bayeu, were involved in a multitude of
1782 precedent by Mariano Maella. A comparison of all these versions with Goya’s initial prototype
palace commissions at that time, and were thus unable to take on the pressing task of developing
from 1789 allows us to reconstruct some of the monarchs’ stipulations for their portraits, as well as
royal propaganda. Just months after Charles IV came to the throne, Goya presented his royal pa-
Goya’s genius at responding to the challenge of pictorially interpreting the propaganda interests of
trons with his first portrait of them. Apparently, those paintings were well received from the very
the Spanish monarch in a manner coherent with the Enlightenment.
start. There is some documentation to that effect, including a letter from miniaturist Eugenio
Though we do not yet have documentation to prove it, we can presume that, like Mengs in
1766 and Maella in 1782, Goya must have gone to paint the recently proclaimed monarchs from
Ximénez de Cisneros to the Marquis of Valdecarzana on May 8, 1789:
life between February and March 1789. That would explain how “A crate, which was made to
Having come from that Royal Site where he was sworn in as Court Painter before Your
bring and take the portraits from the Palace,”30 might have been used to transport the paintings
Excellency, Don Francisco Goya has informed me that Our Lady, the Queen, wants the
for successive sittings at the King’s and Queen’s quarters at the New Royal Palace. The maturity of
Portraits he has painted in oils of their Majesties to be copied as Miniatures by me, for
the sitters had to be brought out in this updated prototype, given their dignity as monarchs, and it
their Majesties, which I am ready to obey with as much exactitude as possible, as is my
is clear that none of the other court painters were deemed worthy of such an honor at that time.
obligation: but I will delay beginning until Your Excellency has been so informed, so
For example, in most of Antonio Carnicero’s royal portraits from 1789 the monarchs appear with
that, as my Supervisor, you might send me the order, which I await in order to begin
faces drawn from their earlier depictions as Prince and Princess of Asturias. But where Goya most
those Portraits.
clearly departs from traditional royal iconography is in the formal language used to represent
24
royal authority.
While this documentation has been known for some time, no one had yet noticed the importance
of this early commissioning of miniature replicas of Goya’s images of Charles IV and Maria Luisa
Madrid’s City Hall, or Zacarías González Velázquez’s efforts to immortalize the monarchs on a
of Parma. This letter from Ximénez de Cisneros, like one of Goya’s letters to Martín Zapater, re-
proscenium at the palace in a portrait commissioned by the Five Leading Guilds, were undoubtedly
calls how, during his fleeting stay in Aranjuez in late April 1789, Goya was not only sworn in as
rejected by Goya. All of those contemporary paintings sought to emphasize royal majesty through
court painter, but also obtained a private audience with the monarchs. At that palace interview,
the presence of the traditional gilded throne, the solemn placement of the crown, and the formulaic
the Queen herself told Goya she wanted a much smaller copy of those modern portraits. And
inclusion of his scepter. Goya, on the other hand, does away with almost all the elements used to
indeed, no sooner did Goya return to court in early May, than he contacted his colleague,
glorify the institution since the time of the Hapsburgs. The crown appears in his work half hidden
Ximénez de Cisneros, to inform him of the royal wish. The destination of that pair of reproduc-
by a curtain, and while his right hand seems to be in the proper position for holding a scepter, the
tions has not yet been precisely documented. Given their size, they may have been commissioned
object itself is nowhere to be seen.31 Goya’s significant decision in this first portrait to veil the pres-
for the Prince’s Country House at El Escorial, or perhaps for one of the jewels often given to cer-
ence of all symbols of royal power must be weighed in all its complexity and modernity.
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tain ambassadors.26 Meanwhile, on May 11, just three days after Ximénez de Cisneros’s letter,
10
Carnicero’s old-fashioned image of Charles IV dressed in Mengsian armor on his way to
Some of those iconographic elements were concurrently reconsidered by Goya—perhaps
Goya wrote his bill for the famous canvases for the Royal Tobacco Factory in Seville. This un-
in terms of each canvas’s intended destination—in both the pair of works at the Real Academia de
questionable overlapping of replicas of such different sizes suggests that Ximénez may have had
la Historia [cat. 10, 11] and the full-length likeness at the Museo del Prado. Still, we must again
to make his copies of Goya’s works in the latter’s studio, while other disciples such as Agustín
emphasize that unlike what has so often been said, Goya’s prototype was not formally in force
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Fig. 23
Fig. 24
Francisco de Goya, Equestrian
Francisco de Goya, Equestrian
Portrait of Charles IV, 1799–1800,
Portrait of Maria Luisa of Parma,
oil on canvas, 336 x 282 cm.
1799, oil on canvas, 338 x 282 cm.
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado
[P–719]
[P–720]
over the following decade. Almost none of the versions of the model he developed in 1789 show
Moreover, from then on, there is evidence that other court painters began to craft their own
Charles IV with the up-to-date sash of the Order of Charles III, nor Maria Luisa with the Royal
personal iconographic proposals to the monarchs, including Francisco Bayeu, Mariano Maella,
Order she founded around 1792 in her honor. Agustín Esteve’s help in crafting copies of Goya’s
Antonio Carnicero,33 and Francisco Folch de Cardona. Even the possible permission Goya had
model is confirmed by a forgotten testimony by Ceán Bermúdez, recovered here:
received to paint the sovereigns from life would be shared in future sojourns by other colleagues, such as Bayeu and Folch de Cardona. It is increasingly clear that in the genre of por-
[Esteve] helped Francisco Goya to fulfill various commissions for portraits of the King and
traiture, the monarchs were not going to favor specific painters on the basis of their greater or
Queen on the occasion of their enthronement, which was certainly helpful to our Esteve,
lesser mastery. The most conclusive proof is the appointment on May 31, 1790, of Francisco
because he not only observed the precision and ease with which Goya made them, but
Folch de Cardona as court portrait painter with the same salary as Goya. In the final decade of
also supplied many himself that Goya could not make as a result of his serious illness.
that century, this Valencian painter played a very active role in the pictorial representation of
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the monarchy, even though what is known of his work is rather disappointing from an artistic
standpoint. According to Ceán Bermúdez, he was introduced to the monarchs by the Count of
Floridablanca:
Among the different portraits he made in Murcia was one of the father of the Most Excellent Lord Count of Floridablanca, who paved his way to greater fortune because having
been referred by His Excellency when he was Secretary of State, he was called to portray
our sovereigns.34
In this field of portraiture, another interesting fact at the beginning of Charles IV’s reign is the
presence in Madrid of the Swedish painter Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller (1751–1811), who fled the
French Revolution and took up residence in Madrid between June 1790 and late July 1791.35 In
Paris, he had held a post as one of the official portrait painters at the court of Louis XVI and
Marie Antoinette, and in his precipitous flight he carried various likenesses of the French royal
family36 in his luggage, selling them a little at a time to the jeweler Léonard Chopinot, and to
the Duke and Duchess of Infantado.37 During his brief stay in Spain those canvases were sometimes used as models for reproductions to satisfy the unexpected Spanish demand for portraits
of the by then deposed sovereigns. Wertmüller sought a patron, but despite having portrayed a
considerable number of leading figures in diplomatic and noble circles, he never managed to
obtain the audience with the monarchs that would have allowed him to display his talents. Finally, given the crown’s frustrating silence, he decided to travel to Cadiz and from there, in a
desperate search for new opportunities, he sailed to Philadelphia under the protection of the
Swedish consul. The quality of Wertmüller’s art and its lack in the work of Folch de Cardona
clearly show that artistic stature does not seem to have played a determinant role in Charles’s
and Maria Luisa’s choice of the most appropriate painters for the projection of their official
images at that time.
History has frequently considered Goya’s genius outside the context of the other court
painters, often forgetting that some of his most significant commissions, such as his equestrian
portraits (figs. 23 and 24) or The Family of Charles IV (fig. 25), have unquestionable precedents
in the work of others, including Francisco Folch de Cardona and Mariano Maella. One of those
forgotten precedents is a monumental equestrian portrait of Charles IV that Folch de Cardona
painted in 1791. On September 5, 1791, Andrés del Peral presented his bill for having “gilded
and burnished a large frame for the painting of the Portrait of the King on horseback which is
43 feet and is very fine and with much work.” Sometime later, Jorge Balze issued his own bill
38
Francisco de Goya, The Family
Almost a decade later, in the final weeks of the 18th century, Goya undertook his famous
of Charles IV, 1800, oil on canvas,
pair of equestrian portraits of Charles IV and Maria Luisa. The recent publication of previously un-
280 x 336 cm. Madrid, Museo
known documents indicates that he sketched both images from life during the royal sojourn at El
Nacional del Prado [P–726]
Escorial in 1799.42 The monarchs’ placement in these paintings also supports the hypothesis that
for “a carved frame with a stretcher, delivered for the Portrait of Your Majesty on horseback.”39
they were not intended to be hung side by side, but rather facing each other on the walls of an as
In the late 19 century, this painting was still listed in the inventories of the Museo del Prado,
yet undetermined room in the New Palace.43 A comparison of these paintings with the scant data
although in 1887 its deposit at the Prior’s Temple of the Four Military Orders of Ciudad Real
currently available on the work of Folch de Cardona shows that its format is practically the same
was decreed.40 The absence of an image of this portrait of Charles IV by Folch de Cardona pre-
but its dimensions are slightly larger than the 1791 work. This detail, as well as the circumstance
vents its comparison with the well-known portrait by Goya, but the high cost of the carved and
that Folch de Cardona was not commissioned to paint the Queen’s portrait at that time, allows us
gilded wooden frame suggests it had a rather important place at the New Royal Palace in
to affirm that the two commissions were not intended for the same place in the palace. In fact, as
Madrid.
Manuela Mena has stated with regard to these pieces by Goya, the most interesting iconography
th
14
Fig. 25
J o s é
41
Manuel
d e
la
M an o
Towards
Goya’s
Royal
Couples
15
16
J o s é
Manuel
d e
la
M an o
Fig. 26
Fig. 27
Francisco de Goya, Charles IV,
Francisco de Goya, Maria Luisa
Hunter, 1799, oil on canvas,
of Parma with a Mantilla, 1799,
205 x 129 cm. Patrimonio Nacional,
oil on canvas, 205 x 130 cm.
Madrid, Royal Palace
Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid,
[inv. no. 10002934]
Royal Palace [inv. n.º 10002935]
17
Towards
Goya’s
Royal
Couples
may well be that of Maria Luisa, who wears a capricious uniform of the Guardia de Corps (the
sequent painting in praise of the heir’s bloodline. In this context, we cannot forget how, in
royal family’s military bodyguards, generally cavalrymen).44 The programmatic image of the exem-
1798, Luis Paret was commissioned to paint his well-known Ferdinand VII is Sworn in as Prince
plary wife and mother projected in 1766 and 1782 by Mengs and later Maella, gives way in this
of Asturias. Somewhat later, Francisco Folch de Cardona sketched portraits of all the royal pro-
portrait to the Queen’s wish to emphasize an almost military aspect of the Spanish monarchy. It
tagonists from life in preparation for the first large portrait of Charles IV’s family. The dimen-
has sometimes been said that the court’s need for an equestrian portrait of Charles IV stemmed
sions of that canvas are curiously close to those of the portrait of Philip V’s family (Madrid,
from David’s painting of such a work for Napoleon, but the memory of Folch de Cardona’s paint-
Museo del Prado, P–2283) by Louis-Michel van Loo (1707–1771), although they have never
ing shows that images of this sort were already required for the Bourbons’ main residences
hung together since Folch de Cardona’s work was painted for the New Palace, while Van Loo’s
shortly after Charles’s coronation. In this context, we can assume that the arrival of Goya’s can-
work from the reign of Charles IV never left the Buen Retiro. In both 1792 and 1799–1800, the
vases at the palace in Madrid must have led to the immediate withdrawal and storage of Folch de
sovereigns’ calls for equestrian portraits and a large family painting came in close succession, so
Cardona’s by then obsolete precedent.
they overlapped for Folch de Cardona and Francisco de Goya. It is rather improbable that both
At almost the same time as these equestrian portraits, Goya made two pairs of full-length
family portraits were conceived for the same space at the Royal Palace in Madrid, but we can
likenesses of the monarchs with different degrees of courtly importance. The first shows
certainly speculate about the possibility that the arrival of Goya’s work might again have led to
Charles IV as a hunter and Maria Luisa of Parma with a mantilla. These must have been conceived
the withdrawal of Folch de Cardona’s.
to replace the ones Mengs had made over three decades earlier (figs. 26 and 27). As had hap-
In this fleeting chronicle of the different models that constituted the official iconography
pened in Mengs’s time, the monarchs also needed portraits of a more formal nature, and in those
of Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Parma from the moment they became engaged, it becomes
the King wears the uniform of a Colonel of the Reales Guardias de Corps, while his wife appears
clear that a given portrait often achieved official status thanks to the fact that its painter had re-
in a magnificent evening gown. Like Goya’s equestrian works, these formal portraits do not
ceived royal permission to paint the monarchs from life. In 1800, Goya was part of a scenario
appear to have been intended to hang side by side. In fact, Goya seems to have been more con-
that would have been unimaginable in earlier decades: in the short period of a few months, the
cerned with where they would hang in the New Palace than with the development of a prototype
Queen posed for him at least four times. Until then, artists had only been conceded a single
as successful as his 1789 works had been. And yet, as soon as they were finished, Agustín Esteve
session before their royal model, and the resulting sketch had to be used as a model for poste-
began receiving calls to make copies for the most varied locations. The first of these must have
rior commissions. That detail supports the idea that the full-length, equestrian, and family por-
been a drawing he made in late 1799 for an illustration in the following year’s Guía de forasteros
traits may have been conceived from the very start for a single space in the New Palace. In
(Guide to Strangers, Madrid, Calcografía Nacional). On that occasion, Esteve may have drawn
those circumstances, the use of a sole prototype for all the paintings would have generated a
upon an as yet undiscovered portrait of Charles IV by Goya that differs in some ways from the
rather monotonous portrait gallery. Likewise, Maria Luisa’s comments to Godoy about these
one at the Royal Palace in Madrid.45 If we consider these two pairs of Goya portraits from the
portraits—“they say they are coming out very well” and “they say that it is the best of all”—
standpoint of the monarchs’ official iconography, we can see that they break with the tradition of
would seem to indicate that Goya may not have shown these compositions to the monarchs
half-length likenesses studied in the present text. Indeed, the full-length format had been practi-
until they were entirely completed. Finally, it was undoubtedly rather bold for Goya to include
cally absent from the iconography of the Bourbons since Charles III’s arrival in Spain. This does
his own image in the large family portrait, but his depiction of himself in the process of paint-
not mean that such works were never painted, but rather that, when they were, it was generally
ing them brings a certain veracity to the representation. It is thus paradoxical that this group
for representative use beyond Spain’s borders.
portrait turns out to be the only one of the series of Charles and Maria Luisa of Parma to be
The optimal culmination of this exploration of the iconography of Charles and Maria
based on his preparatory sketches.
Luisa undoubtedly comes with Goya’s group portrait of the royal family, which Charles IV
called “the painting of all together.” But like the equestrian portraits, this work has its corresponding precedents in similar royal commissions of Mariano Maella and Francisco Folch de
Cardona, which have been studied on earlier occasions.46 The idea of a programmatic family
canvas had already arisen when the couple were still Prince and Princess of Asturias, and Mariano Maella was chosen to paint it at the time. The idea was soon abandoned, however, and did
not really materialize until a few months after the coronation. In Maella’s delayed precedent for
Goya, emphasis has generally been placed on the image of the monarchs, but what certainly
underlies this work is the iconography of the Infante Ferdinand. Both times Maella was re18
quested to paint an updated image of Charles IV’s eldest son, he produced a sketch for the conJ o s é
Manuel
d e
la
M an o
19
Towards
Goya’s
Royal
Couples
* I would like to thank the following Spanish scholars: Javier
which led his parents to submit him to the tutelage of painter
indeed, due on these objects.” Letter from Juan Miguel de
corner of this drawing has an old attribution to Maella, al-
Antonio Richart, and he soon stood out over all the rest that
Oyanide to the General Director of Taxes, dated July 23,
cedes Simal for her willingness to share her documented
though it has been attributed to his teacher, Mengs, ever
painted from life at this teacher’s house, where he also
1790. AGS, Hacienda y Superintendencia de Hacienda, leg.
knowledge of the Buen Retiro Palace; and Manolo González
since it was published. The compositional differences be-
learned the elements of coloring.
1283. González Arribas and Arribas Arranz 1961, p. 223 (tran-
Fuertes for his unexpected visits to the most varied and
tween this pencil sketch and Maella’s final canvas at the Her-
Having moved to Madrid to follow a court case, he painted
sundry local archives. Likewise, my thanks to French scholars
mitage Museum are practically meaningless: the basket of
whenever his work would let him. He then became known
Sylvain Laveissière and Samuel Monier for sharing informa-
flowers has been replaced by a terracotta jug and a clock,
among professors and art lovers for the resemblance of some
the Duchess of Infantado acquired from the artist “the large
tion from their upcoming monographic exhibition of works
and there is no longer a handkerchief in the sitter’s left hand.
of the portraits he made. From there he moved to Murcia,
portrait of the Queen of France made in Paris 1788, and for
22 Jordán de Urríes y de la Colina 2006c, vol. II, p. 638.
and the Most Illustrious Manuel Rubin de Celis, Bishop of
the portrait of Madame, the King’s daughter and of M. the
1 In the full-length portrait of Maria Luisa at the Metropolitan
23 The projection of this image of Maria Luisa of Parma as a do-
that diocese, hired him for various jobs, including his portrait
Dauphin, Study for the large Painting of the Queen.” Beniso-
Museum of Art in New York (fig. 20), she shows the viewer
mestic queen to her subjects was recently recovered by Calvo
adorned with other figures, which hangs in the School of San
this porcelain box with the image of her fiancé.
Maturana 2007.
Fulgencio.
38 AGP, Reinados, Carlos IV, Casa, leg. 142.
Around that time he painted two hemispherical domes at
39 Documentation of the payment of this bill extends from No-
by the painter Laurent Pécheux.
2 On November 3, 1764, Juan Domingo Pignatelli wrote to
24 A note in the margin of this letter reads: “On May 9, an order
scribed in this publication as Bertmudler).
37 Some time after Louis XIV was beheaded, on June 23, 1793,
vich 1956, p. 57 and Baticle 1979, pp. 124–27.
Grimaldi from Parma: “that there was no better time to ex-
was given for miniature portraits to be made from the origi-
that main church in Cartagena, one at the Chapel of the
vember 19, 1792 thorough December 22 of the same year.
press the joy and incommensurable satisfaction I feel at news
nals by Goya.” AGP, Expedientes Personales, caja 595, exp. 3.
Virgin of the Sea with its narrative paintings, and one at the
AGP, Reinados, Carlos IV, Casa, legs. 4 and 179, and Obras,
of yesterday’s signing of the articles of the marriage treaty be-
Morales y Marín 1994a, p. 287.
Chapel of Saint John Nepomucene: a canvas for the altar-
tween Our Lord, the Prince of Asturias, and the Lady
Princess, Luisa.” Archivo General de Simancas (AGS) Estado,
25 Letter of May 2, 1789 to Martín Zapater. Águeda and Salas
1982 (2003), pp. 291–92.
26 Some weeks earlier, Eugenio Ximénez de Cisneros had
leg. 5185.
piece of Saint Rita and two others for two altarpieces at the
church of Saint Augustine, all in Cartagena. He then went to
Jumilla, where he painted six chapels, the transept, a paint-
3 De la Mano 1999, p. 86.
painted some portraits of this type, as on April 11, 1789 the
ing of the Good Shepherd for the main altarpiece and those
4 On May 23, 1765, Tomás Francisco Prieto (1716–1782) wrote
caja 18220, exp. 19.
40 The approximate dimensions of this equestrian portrait by
Folch de Cardona would have been 314 x 257 cm. Museo del
Prado 1990, p. 699.
41 This equestrian portrait by Folch de Cardona has been re-
Marquis of Zambrano was instructed: “See to it that payment
of the life of the Virgin at the new church; the Assumption
ferred to as a copy of Goya’s, which is impossible since it
to José Nicolás de Azara: “Send me the wax model, because
is made through the General Treasury to Eugenio Ximénez
of the Virgin for the high altar at the parish of Molina and
was painted almost a decade earlier. Morales y Marín 1997b,
there is Mengs for this prince, and me for the plaster, but all
de Cisneros, Court Painter, requiring only his receipt for one
many other works for the temples of that Bishopric and for
the same, I want to have the wax present.” Villena 2004, pp.
thousand eight hundred reales of billon as payment for two
private individuals.” Testimony of Ceán Bermúdez. BNE, ms.
42 Rodríguez Torres 2008, pp. 121–39.
197–98.
portraits he has made for the Jewels that are customarily
21.455 (8), fols. 49–49v.
43 Águeda 1987, p. 50.
p. 42.
5 Bollea 1936, p. 394.
given to ambassadors.” AGP, Reinados, Carlos IV, Casa, leg.
35 Benisovich 1956, pp. 54–56.
44 Mena Marqués 2002b, pp. 89–93.
6 Ros 2005, p. 408.
177.
36 “The Minister of Sweden at this court requests in the adjoin-
45 To date, it has been repeatedly stated that this drawing by
7 Archivio di Stato di Parma (ASP), Carteggio Farnesiano e Bor-
bonico Estero, Spagna, b. 152 (former 29), draft of the letter
27 De la Mano 2007a, pp. 147–54.
ing statement that we are sending to Your Excellency that
Agustín Esteve now at the Calcografía Nacional is a reproduc-
28 According to Ceán Bermúdez, José Camarón y Meliá “in and
you order the free delivery to Ms. Bermuller, Court Painter of
tion of the full-length portrait of the monarch wearing the
from Du Tillot to the Marquis of Grimaldi dated January 13,
outside of Madrid, particularly on the occasion of our present
His Majesty of Sweden, two boxes with paints and painting
uniform of the Real Guardia de Corps. And yet, Charles IV is
1765. Ros 2005, p. 408.
Monarch’s enthronement [Charles IV] on the canvas of Mount
utensils and eight Paintings one of them of his own portraits
looking in the opposite direction and his frockcoat is differ-
8 AGS, Estado, leg. 5188. Urrea Fernández 1989a, p. 788.
Parnassus, which was hung in the Palace plaza: in the ball-
of the French royal family and the others studies for his use
ent, with a slightly higher collar and without the Golden
9 Ibidem.
room built in the house of the Most Excellent Duke of Osuna
that were inspected at this Customs in accordance with Your
Fleece, which Rafael Esteve included in his burin engraving
and in other places.”
Excellency’s order of last May the 23rd, and adds that he does
10 Benito García and Urrea Fernández 2003, pp. 60–66.
11 ASP, Carteggio Farnesiano e Borbonico Estero, Spagna, b. 152
29 “Bill for four Portraits of the King and Queen that I have
(former 29), draft of the letter from Du Tillot to the Marquis
painted at the behest of the Most excellent Count of Campo-
of Grimaldi dated April 14, 1765. Ros 2005, p. 409.
manes, on the originals that His Excellency possesses and
12 “I cannot express to Your Excellency how angry I am about
the King and two others of the Queen (Our Lords) at fifteen
ping with two other people. I very clearly asked whether
doubloons for each one so the four cost sixty doubloons that
they had taken all the necessary precautions and they told
are three thousand six hundred reales 3,600 rs. This amount I
me everything would be alright: The painter told me he did
have received from Señor Manuel Monfort and as such I sign
not want anyone else to touch it; and those, in truth, are the
in Madrid on February 20, 1791. Josef Camaron.” Caceres,
facts of this misfortune. Anyway, my displeasure does not
Archivo Histórico Provincial, Sección Real Audiencia, leg. 1,
remedy the damage done, although I see that Mr. Mengs is to
exp. 32, fol. 8. Hurtado 1998, pp. 178–80. When this docu-
repair it. That consoles me.” ASP, Carteggio Farnesiano e Bor-
ment was located, it was associated with José Camarón Bo30 Sambricio 1946, pp. XCI–XCII.
1765. Ros 2005, p. 409.
31 If the hypothesis that Charles IV was holding a scepter in the
13 Parker 1966, p. 183.
original prototype by Goya is true, it might be possible to
14 ASP, Carteggio Farnesiano e Borbonico Estero, Spagna, b. 152
identify that first work with X-rays, which would allow us to
of Grimaldi dated June 2, 1765.
15 Roettgen 1999–2003, vol. I, p. 566.
16 It has frequently been said that Mengs based his portrait of
verify the existence of a possible pentimento in that regard.
32 Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional de España (BNE), ms. 21.455 (8),
fol. 39v.
33 Ceán Bermúdez said of Antonio Carnicero: “He made various
Maria Luisa of Parma on Pécheux’s, but his theory is quite
works and most were for private citizens and different life-
improbable. The distance of only a few months between one
size portraits of Their Majesties for City Halls in Spain. He is
painting and the other could undoubtedly justify their clear
the author of those at the City Halls of Madrid, Seville, Cadiz
formal similarities.
and Bilbao, and for the Consulates in the Americas. And
17 Kagané 2007, pp. 37–44.
there has been much praise for the one he just made of the
18 Madrid, Archivo General de Palacio (AGP), Administrativa,
Most Excellent Prince of Peace, which is also life sized and
leg. 38, with a copy in AGP, Registro no. 118, Grefier Reales
Órdenes 1770–74, vol. 4, Casa, fols. 176v–77. Águeda 1980,
pp. 30 and 34–35. Roettgen 1999–2003, vol. I, p. 200.
on horseback. ”
34 “Folch de Cardona, D. Francisco, painter.
Born in Valencia to a very distinguished family in 1733, he
19 Kagané 2007, p. 38.
showed an interest in painting from childhood, sketching
20 AGS, Estado, leg. 6638.
semblances of his fellow students at elementary school;
J o s é
Manuel
d e
la
M an o
for the print.
46 De la Mano 2007b, pp. 647–55.
nanat, but this bill is signed by his son, José Camarón y Meliá.
from Du Tillot to the Marquis of Grimaldi dated April 28,
(former 29), draft of the letter from Du Tillot to the Marquis
not seek to avoid payment of the Royal rights if any were,
they are for the Royal Court of Caceres. For two portraits of
what has happened to the portrait. The painter did the wrap-
bonico Estero, Spagna, b. 152 (former 29), draft of the letter
20
21 Roettgen 1999–2003, vol. I, pp. 251–52. The lower right
Jordán de Urríes, for his customary and essential aid; Mer-
21
Towards
Goya’s
Royal
Couples