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FRANCISCO GOYA (1746-1828) EL CONDE DE TEBA Canvas, 23 3/4 inches by 19 1/4 inches

EL CONDE DE TEBA, who is represented by this portrait, was born about 1785. He was the second son of Count de Montijo, which title he inherited after his brother's death. He offered his sword to Napoleon, thinking him the regenerator of Spain, and it was at this time, 1810, that Goya, attracted by this sensitive and high-strung young nobleman, painted his portrait. At Salamanca he was shot in the eye and his leg was broken by a cannon ball. In 1814 at Buttes-Chaumont he was again wounded. St. Amand, in his book, "Louis Napoleon and Mlle. de Montijo," says: "Invaded France was not defended more valiantly by an Frenchman than by this Spaniard. He fired the last discharge of cannon which delayed for a day the entry of the allies into Paris." In 1816 he married Maria Manuela de Kirkpatrick y Grivegnée. Her genealogy is clearly established in the notes left by her cousin, Ferdinand Lesseps, the illustrious creator of the Suez Canal. She was the daughter of Baron William Kirkpatrick, of Closeburn, Scotland, who was forced to leave his native country because of his close affiliation and devotion to the Stuarts. Their first daughter was Françoise, born in 1825, and Eugénie came the following year. Françoise in 1844 became the wife of the most powerful and richest nobleman in Spain, the Duke of Alba, twelve times grandee of Spain. Eugénie, in 1853, married Napoleon III, and thus became the Empress of the French.

Writing of this portrait Royal Cortissoz says:- "As a study of character it is one of those rare paintings in which Goya forgot to be cynical and scornful. This portrait is a flawless gem."

It comes from the collection of José Lazaro Galdeano.

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