Portrait of María Teresa de Vallabriga on Horseback
by GOYA Y LUCIENTES, Francisco de, Oil on canvas, 82,5 x 61,7 cm
In the summer of 1783 the Infante Don Luis de Borb�n, brother of Charles III, invited Goya to stay at his residence of Arena de San Pedro, where the painter executed a series of portraits (possibly sixteen) of Don Luis’s family. Goya mentions the equestrian portrait of Mar�a Teresa de Vallabriga, the wife of Don Luis, in a letter to his friend Martin Zapater on 2 July 1784.
Although the artist referred to a painting that was unfinished, the reference has been linked to this canvas of the Uffizi.
Evident in this work is Goya’s revival and re-adaptation of the 17-century tradition of the equestrian portrait, particularly that of Vel�zquez.