The Marquesa de Pontejos
Francisco Goya·c. 1786
Historical Context
The Marquesa de Pontejos, painted around 1786 and held at the National Gallery of Art, is one of Goya’s most celebrated aristocratic portraits. María Ana de Pontejos, Marchioness of Pontejos (1762–1834), is shown full-length in a garden setting wearing an elaborate rose-trimmed dress and wide hat in the fashionable French style. The painting demonstrates Goya’s mastery of the Rococo portrait tradition while subtly anticipating the more penetrating psychological approach that would characterize his mature work. The Marquesa was a prominent figure at the court of Charles III, and this portrait represents the height of Goya’s success as a portraitist to the Spanish aristocracy.
Technical Analysis
Goya's oil on canvas displays his brilliant handling of silvery fabrics and delicate color harmonies, with the full-length figure posed in a luminous outdoor setting that recalls the aristocratic portraits of Gainsborough and Velazquez.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the Marquesa's elaborate dress: the rose-trimmed gown and wide hat are rendered in Goya's brilliant handling of silvery fabrics, a technique he admired in both Gainsborough and Velázquez.
- ◆Look at the small dog at her feet: this accessory of aristocratic portraiture is painted with the naturalistic observation Goya brought to all living creatures.
- ◆Observe the full-length format set in a luminous outdoor space: Goya places his aristocratic subject in a landscape that suggests both social ease and natural grandeur.
- ◆Find the subtle shift from Rococo formula toward psychological observation: the Marquesa's face carries an individual presence that begins to move beyond the decorative idealizations of court portraiture.
Provenance
The sitter [1762-1834], Casa Pontejos and Palacio Miraflores, Madrid; her third husband, Joaquín Pérez Vizcaíno y Moles [1790-1840], Palacio Miraflores, Madrid;[1] his son-in-law, Don Manuel de Pando y Fernández, Marqués de Miraflores, Palacio Miraflores, by 1867;[2] Don Manuel's granddaughter, Genoveva de Sanmiego y Pando, Marquesa Viuda [widow] de Martorell and Marquesa de Miraflores y de Pontejos, Palacio Miraflores, by 1900;[3] her son, Don Manuel Alvarez de Toledo, Marqués de Miraflores y de Pontejos, Palacio Miraflores, by 1900;[4] sold July 1931 through Mrs. Walter H. [Anna] Schoellkopf, Madrid, and (M. Knoedler & Co., New York and Paris) to Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded December 1934 to The A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA. [1] Walter Cook, "Spanish Paintings in the National Gallery of Art II: Portraits by Goya," _Gazette des Beaux-Arts_ 28 (1945): 152 n 2. On Vizcaíno's life and career and on his inheritance of his wife's estate, see Eduardo C. Puga, "El Marqués de Pontejos," _La ilustración española y americana_ 39 (8 May 1895): 286-287. [2] Charles Yriate, _Goya: sa biographie et le catalogue de l'oeuvre_, Paris, 1867: 139. Basic biographical information about the members of the house of Pontejos is given by Alberto and Arturo García Carrafa, _Diccionario heráldico y genealógico de apellidos españoles y americanos_, vol. 71, Madrid, 1956: 137-140; and by Juan Moreno de Guerra y Alonso, _Guía de la grandeza_ Madrid, 1917: 228-229. [3] _Obras de Goya_, exh. cat., Ministerio de Instruccion Pública y Bellas Artes, Madrid, 1910: 32, no. 92. The painting was also recorded in her possession by S. L. Benusan, "A Note upon the Paintings of Francisco José Goya," _The Studio_ 24 (1901): 156; Albert F. Calvert, _Goya: an Account of his Life and Works_, London, 1908: 193, no. 215; Paul Lafond, _Goya_, Paris, 1910: 6; Hugh Stokes, _Francisco Goya_, London, 1914: 338, no. 251; Aureliano de Beruete y Moret, _Goya, pintor de retratos_, Madrid, 1915: 39; Valerian von Loga, _Francisco de Goya_, Munich, 1923: 200, no. 307; _Colección de cuatrocientos y nueve reproducciones de cuadros, dibujos, y aquafuertes de Don Francisco de Goya precididas de un epistolario del gran pintor y noticias biograficas por Don Francisco Zapatar (1860)_, Madrid, 1924: no. 58. [4] _Pinturas de... Goya_, exh. cat., 1928: 23, no. 18.6. Lively accounts of the negotiations involved in this sale are given by David Edward Finley, _A Standard of Excellence_, Washington, 1973: 21-22; and John Walker, _Self-Portrait with Donors_ , Boston, 1974: 125.
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