Doña Francisca Vicenta Chollet y Caballero
1806
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828)
On View

In 1799, Francisco de Goya was made First Court Painter to King Charles IV of Spain. For the next ten years he painted numerous official portraits of the royal family, and many portraits of subjects of the court circle. In 1801, he painted Antonio Noriega de Bada y Bermúdez (National Gallery, Washington), the court treasurer and the husband of the sitter in this picture, who in that year was awarded the honorific membership in the Order of Carlos III. Five years later, the painter finished this portrait of Doña Francisca, in which he combines elements of delicate detail with great finesse—the embroidery of her silk dress, her sparkling tiara, and the dog’s outrageous collar—with an equally free, palpable brushwork. X-rays of portions of the composition, including her pose and the scampish pug, reveal final alterations made by Goya, causing some scholars to speculate that the portraits of husband and wife were originally intended as pendants. The ultimate simplicity of the composition and reduction of spatial depth give the subject a quiet and intimate character, despite her diffident aire.

Details

  • Artist Name: Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828)
  • Title: Doña Francisca Vicenta Chollet y Caballero
  • Date: 1806
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: overall: 40 1/2 in x 31 7/8 in
  • Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
  • Accession Number: M.1981.7.P
  • Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation

Object Information

Camille Groult, Paris, before January, 1908, by descent to his wife;
Madame Camille Groult, by descent ca. 1918 to;
Groult heirs until ca. 1925;
[Gimpel and Wildenstein, 1925];
Harrison Williams, New York, by 1928 until his death in 1953, by inheritance to his wife;
Countess Bismarck (formerly Mona Harrison Williams), New York (1899-1983) (sale, London, Christie’s, 10 July 1981, lot 122);
Norton Simon Art Foundation.

Spanish Paintings from El Greco to Goya

  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1928 to

A Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Goya Under the Patronage of His Excellency Señor Don Juan Francisco de Cárdenas, Spanish Ambassador

  • New York, Knoedler, 1934-04-09 to 1934-04-21

A Loan Exhibition of Fashion Headdress 1450-1943, for the Benefit of New York Infirmary for Women and Children

  • Wildenstein & Co. (New York, N.Y.), 1943-04-27 to 1943-05-27

Reinstallation of Galleries: Art History of the 17th and 18th Century Gains Fresh Dimension

  • Norton Simon Museum, 1993-09-02 to 1995-08-13
  • Salas, Xavier de, Goya, no. 412
  • Beruete y Moret, A. de, Goya as Portrait Painter, 1922, p. 125
  • Mayer, August L., Francisco de Goya, 1924, no. 216
  • Desparmet Fitzgerald, X., L'Oeuvre peint de Goya, 1928, no. 449
  • Sanchez Cantón, Francisco Javier, Vida y obras de Goya, 1951, no. 100 p. 80
  • Gudiol, José, Goya 1746-1828: Biography, Analytical Study and Catalogue of His Paintings, 1971, vol. I., no. 524; vol. IV fig. 829
  • Gassier, Pierre; and Juliet Wilson, The Life and Complete Works of Francisco Goya with a Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, Drawings, and Engravings, 1971, no. 853 p. 200
  • Angelis, R. de, L'opera pittorica completa di Goya, 1974, no. 450
  • Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, 1989, p. 107
  • Brettell, Richard R. and Stephen F. Eisenman, Nineteenth-Century Art in the Norton Simon Museum, volume 1, 2006,
  • Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 1684 p. 435
  • Juliet Wilson-Bareau, Goya in the Norton Simon Museum, 2016, cat. 3 pp. 7, 14, 153, 158, 160 (ill.), 161-62, 161 (x-radiograph), 254, 285, 289
Listen
Audio Tour
English | Español
Read
Audio Tour Transcript
English | Español
Escuchar
Audioguía
English | Español
Leer
Transcripción de Audioguía
English | Español

Additional Artwork by Artist

Copies after Velázquez: Isabel de Borbón Francisco de Goya y Lucientes 1778-79
Copies after Velázquez: Un infante de España (Infante Don Fernando) Francisco de Goya y Lucientes c. 1778-79
Desastres de la Guerra Francisco de Goya y Lucientes c. 1810-15

Image reproduction permission may be granted for scholarly or arts related commercial use. All image requests, regardless of their intended purpose, should be submitted via the reproduction request form.

Images may be protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. Additional permission may be required.

Please allow up to four weeks for your request to be reviewed. Approved requests for the reproduction of an image will receive a contract detailing all fees and conditions of use of the image. Upon receipt of both the signed contract and full payment, the Office of Rights and Reproductions will provide the image. A complimentary copy of the published material must be provided to the Norton Simon Museum.

Reproduction Request Form