A Family Reunion at the Museum: Goya and the Altamira Family

         There is a family reunion going on at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. No, it is not a reunion with tee-shirts, but a quieter one, an artistic one. Five members of the Altamira family are being brought together for the first time since their portraits were painted.

The artist who created 4 of the five portraits is Francisco Goya y Lucientes. He is ranked among some of the greatest artists Spain has produced. He worke from the late eighteenth century until the 1820s. Like many men of his time, he had some education and was apprenticed to the Spanish painter Jose Luzan. He learned basic art skills from Luzan and then travelled to Italy to complete his artistic education. When he returned to Spain he won the commission to paint a series of frescos in the church of his hometown of Zaragoza. Through family connections Goya drew tapestry cartoons (sketches that would be the basis for the tapestry patterns), works which brought Goya to the attention of the Spanish court.

Goya’s tapestries adorned the walls of royal palaces. He studied with the two court painters Anton Raphael Mengs and Giovanni  Battista Tiepolo. Goya slowly established himself as a portraitist to the members of the Spanish Court. Mengs’ attention brought Goya to the attention of prominent patrons including the Counts of Altamira. The Count was so pleased by his own portrait, because it flattered him, a man of diminutive stature. A portrait of the Countess, who was posed with their infant daughter followed. The portrait of their son Manuel would become an icon, sometimes referred to as the “Little Boy in the Red Suit” or “Little Boy in Red”, Manuel’s portrait shows the child who was four years old at the time. He hold his pet magpie on a lead. In the magpie’s beak is Goya’s own calling card- a way of announcing his artistic arrival in a very public way. For an artist to so brazenly insert himself into a commissioned portrait was a bold declaration. The portrait of Manuel’s older brother, Vicente also painted by Goya is a much more conventional representation. The boy, beautifully dressed stand up straight and presents himself to the observer.

          For a brief time the family- in portrait form, have been reunited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Museum owns Manuel’s portrait as well as the portrait of the Countess.  The others are held in private collections in the United States and Spain. The one portrait not painted by Goya is of the middle brother Juan. Juan’s portrait was painted by Augustin Esteve y Marques who worked with Goya.

For more information about Goya please check out the following:

Goya by Robert Hughes http://alpha2.suffolk.lib.ny.us/record=b3418025~S50 is a nicely accessible work that situatates his works with their historical context.

Goya and His Critics by Nigel Glendinning http://alpha2.suffolk.lib.ny.us/record=b1241605~S50

take a more scholarly approach, but the introduction offers a nice summation of his career.

The Life and Complete Works of Francisco Goya by Pierre Gassier and Juliet Wilson http://alpha2.suffolk.lib.ny.us/record=b2679209~S50 is a conventional art historical text that follows the trajectory of Goya’s career.

For those interested in Spanish history check out: Spain a Unique History by Stanley G. Payne http://alpha2.suffolk.lib.ny.us/record=b4342886~S50

   If you need any help locating any of these items please see Reference Librarian. For more info on the exhibit itself please see the Metropolitan Museum of Art site here: http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/goya