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Workshop of Francisco Goya

The Duke of Wellington, c. 1812

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 52

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 105.5 x 83.7 cm (41 9/16 x 32 15/16 in.)

framed: 118.1 x 96.8 cm (46 1/2 x 38 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. P.H.B. Frelinghuysen

Accession Number

1963.4.1

Artists / Makers

Spanish 18th/19th Century (painter)

Francisco Goya (related artist) Spanish, 1746 - 1828

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Inscription

in another hand, lower left: A. W. Terror Gallorum (A[rthur] W[ellesley] Terror of the French)

Provenance

Probably Miguel de Alava [1771-1843], Vitoria, Spain;[1] Ricardo Alava, Madrid; sold c. 1902 to (Joseph Wicht, Madrid); sold in 1902 through Mary Cassatt to Henry Osborne Havemeyer [1847-1907], New York;[2] his widow, Louisine W. Havemeyer, [née Elder, 1855-1929], New York; by descent to their daughter, Mrs. P.H.B. Frelinghuysen [née Adaline Havemeyer, 1884-1963], Morristown, New Jersey; gift 1963 to NGA.

[1] Aureliano de Beruete, Goya, pintor de retratos, English ed., Boston and New York, 1922: 148-149: "This portrait was in the possession of the descendants of the General Alava, who fought at Wellington's side against the French, which makes us think it was either a present from the general to his companion at arms, or a commission of the Spanish soldiers who wished to have the portrait of his general-in-chief."

[2] Louisine W. Havemeyer, Sixteen to Sixty: Memoirs of a Collector , New York, 1961: 153, 156-157, refers to Wicht as "W." Copies of the correspondence between Wicht and Mary Cassatt, Havemeyer's agent, are in the NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Alava, Miguel de
Alava, Ricardo
Cassatt, Mary
Frelinghuysen, Peter H.B., Mrs.
Havemeyer, Henry Osborne
Havemeyer, Louisine Waldron
Wicht, Joseph

Exhibition History

1912: Loan Exhibition of Paintings by El Greco and Goya, M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York, 1912, no. 14, as by Goya.

1941: Paintings, Drawings and Prints: The Art of Goya, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1941, no. 83, as by Goya.

1955: Goya; Drawings and Prints, Smithsonian Institution, traveling exhibition, 1955, no. 187, as by Goya (cat. suppl. for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).

1962: On loan to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1962-1963, no cat.

1986: Goya: The Condesa de Chinchón and Other Paintings, Drawings, and Prints from Spanish and American Private Collections and the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1986-1987, unpaginated brochure.

1988: La Alianza de Dos Monarquías: Wellington y España, Museo Municipal, Madrid, 1988, 161, color repro. 162, 376-377, no. 4.1.13.

1993: Napoleon, Grand Exhibition Hall, Memphis Cook Convention Center, 1993, no catalogue entry.

2021: Americans in Spain: Painting and Travel, 1820-1920, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, 2021, no. 3, repro.

Technical Summary

The painting is executed on a fabric support and has been lined to two auxiliary fabrics. A red colored ground of average thickness has been applied overall. The paint is applied in opaque layers with raised brushwork and some impasto in the details and highlights of the white shirt and white feather of the hat. The painting is in secure condition. Numerous small overpaints are scattered throughout the composition, notably in the upper left forehead and shadowed cheek. The profile line of the right cheek and the background to the left have also been reinforced with scattered application of overpaint. The varnish is in poor condition.

Bibliography

1908: Calvert, Albert. Goya: An Account of His Life and Works. London, 1908: 142, no. 253.

1916: Beruete y Moret, Aureliano de. Goya, pintor de retratos. Madrid, 1915: 122-123, no. 243, pl. 45 (also English ed. Translated by Selwyn Brinton. London, 1922: 148-149, no. 251, pl. 45).

1924: Mayer, August L. Francisco de Goya. Munich, 1923 (English ed. Translated by Robert West [pseud.]. London, 1924: 67, no. 450, fig. 228).

1928: Desparmet Fitz-Gerald, Xavier. L'oeuvre peint de Goya. 4 vols. Paris, 1928-1950: 2:190, no. 477, pl. 394.

1931: H.O. Havemeyer Collection. Catalogue of Paintings, Prints, Sculpture and Objects of Art. Portland, Maine, 1931: 318, repro. 319.

1951: Sánchez Cantón, Francisco Javier. Vida y obras de Goya. madrid, 1951: 96. Translated by Paul Burns, Madrid, 1964.

1961: Havemeyer, Louisine W. Sixteen to Sixty: Memoirs of a Collector. New York, 1961: 156-157.

1963: Brooke, Humphrey, ed. Goya and His Times. Exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts. London, 1963: 61 (by Nigel Glendinning).

1964: Trapier, Elizabeth de Gué. Goya and His Sitters. New York, 1964: 38, no. 68, pls. 68, 70.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 61, as by Goya.

1966: Braham, Allan. "Goya's Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Wellington." The Burlington Magazine 108 (December, 1966): 618-621, appendix.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 53, repro., as by Goya.

1969: Harris, Enriqueta. Goya. London, 1969: 87-88.

1970: Gassier, Pierre, and Juliet Wilson. Vie et oeuvre de Francisco Goya. Paris, 1970: 254, no. 900, repro. 262 (also English ed. Translated by C. Hauch and J. Wilson. New York, 1971).

1971: Gudiol y Ricart, José. Goya: 1746-1828; Biography, Analytical Study and Catalogue of His Paintings. Translated by Kenneth Lyons. 4 vols. New York, 1971: 1:146, 316, no. 558; 4:fig. 903.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 160, repro., as by Goya.

1984: Camón Aznar, José. Francisco de Goya. 4 vols. Saragossa, 1984: 3:198.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 404, no. 575, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 184, repro.

1990: Brown, Jonathan, and Richard G. Mann. Spanish Paintings of the Fifteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1990: 37-41, repro. 39.