La marquesa de Villafranca pintando a su marido

Doña María Tomasa Palafox y Portocarrero, Marquise of Villafranca and Duchess of Medina Sidonia (1780–1835), was a patron and muse of the painter

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...

and the wife of Francisco de Borja Álvarez de Toledo, 12th Marquis of Villafranca. In his famous painting, Goya portrays the Marchioness de Villafranca as an artist with brush and

maulstick A maulstick or mahlstick is a stick with a soft leather or padded head used by painters to support the hand holding the paintbrush. The word derives from the German and Dutch ''Malstock'' or ''maalstok'' 'painter's stick', from ''malen'' 'to pain ...

in her hand. She has interrupted her work at the easel and leaning back in her armchair, she is scrutinising her model, her husband—invisible to the viewer—who is posing for his portrait. He must have been seated facing sideways with his profile to the artist, unable to turn the attention to his wife until the picture was done. Goya honoured his aristocratic "colleague" with the inscription of her name on the

palette Palette may refer to: * Cosmetic palette, an archaeological form * Palette, another name for a color scheme * Palette (painting), a wooden board used for mixing colors for a painting ** Palette knife, an implement for painting * Palette (company), ...

; he himself signed his work with his signature on the arm of the chair. The marchioness, who is fashionably dressed in the Empire style, was certainly more than just a dabbler in art. She was an honorary member of the Madrid Academy, which also honoured her with an award.

Ancestors

References

1780 births 1835 deaths Maria Tomosa House of Medina Sidonia Palafox y Portocarrero, Maria Spanish art patrons 19th-century philanthropists {{Spain-noble-stub