Description
In all likelihood, this painting is the unidentified portrait of Camilo Goya from the 1862 estate auction of the Conde de Quinto, painted by his brother Francisco de Goya on 14 May 1796.
The early portrait of around 1770–75 shows Camilo still young and beardless, with an anxious, uncertain upward gaze, whereas the portrait shown here, painted some twenty years later in 1796, presents him as mature, self-assured and prosperous, with a broad-brimmed hat, a beard and an embroidered cape.
On close inspection, the identity of the two paintings is unmistakable. Matching features include the placement and rendering of the eyebrows – especially the right one with its 90-degree angle – the flat bridge of the nose and the protruding ear.
It can therefore reasonably be concluded that the portrait listed in the Colección Zuloaga as Camilo Goya is very probably not identical to the painting auctioned in 1862, since – unlike the two portraits compared here – it shows no physiognomic resemblance whatsoever to Francisco de Goya.
This discovery shows that, even 200 years later, his life and work continue to offer new insights – as if they wished to be explored and admired forever.
“The strength of this portrait lies in its restraint: light, gaze and bearing are enough to reveal dignity and spiritual presence.”
— On viewing the portrait
