The famed Prado Museum located in Central Madrid at Calle Ruiz de Alarcón, near the Retiro Park,, the historic Paseo del Prado, the Fountain of Neptune, and major avenues of the Spanish capital, part of the “Art Triangle” with the museums Reina Sofia and Thyssen - Bornemisza, hosted in a neoclassical building with modern expansions, containing renowned collections and multiple floors dedicated to different art eras, celebrates a historic milestone, the 40th anniversary the recovery of the portrait of the “La Marquesa de Santa Cruz” (The Marchioness of Santa Cruz) by the famous painter Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, simply known as Goya.
The painting, a significant portrait from 1805, was recovered on April, 9 1986 and has since become a landmark piece in the museum’s collection. The Goya’s masterpiece, which had been missing for decades, now stands as a prized piece in the Prado Museum’s extensive and unparelleled Collection, marking a crucial milestone in the preservation of Spanish cultural heritage.
The painting was recently restored in collaboration with the Banco de España, allowing for the removal of old, oxidized varnish and revealing the original tones of the portrait.
This artistic masterpiece was executed by Goya, a famed romantic painter and printmaker, considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, an essential figure in the visual arts and the pride of Spain. As a pioneering artist known for the transition from Rococo tapestry cartoons to dark, dramatic, and emotionally intense works, and his unique style marked him as a precursor to Expressionism and early Modernism.
His paintings, drawings, and engravings include sharp social critique, sychological portraits, and the haunting “Black Paintings”, alongside mastery in etching, depicting themes of war, insanity, and superstition, reflecting contemporary historical upheavals, influencing important 19th and 20th centuries painters.
Goya’s portrait of the Marchioness of Santa Cruz, not only did it return to Spain a fundamental piece of of its artistic treasure in 1986, but it was also a turning point in the legal defence of heritage against illegal pieces of art traffic. After leaving Spain illegally and passing through British collections, it was recovered decades ago, to make it one of the jewels in the Prado’s collection.
Goya conceived the painting in 1805 depicting Joaquina Téllez - Girón Marchioness of Santa Cruz reclined on a divan drerssed as a muse (like Erato or Terpsichore) holding a lyre guitar and wearing a laurel wreath, highlighting the painting’s sensual style, and neoclassical allegory.
The artistic style visible in this masterpiece features Goya’s use of light, airy brushwork (impasto) and a delicate sensuality, with the white muslin dress accentuating the contour of the sitter’s body.
Now, the Prado Museum is exhibiting the work for the first time together with one of the copies recently located in the art trade, commissioned by the dictator Francisco Franco in 1941, to compensate the legitimate owners for the forced acquisition of the original, with the intention of giving it to Adolf Hitler.
On April 13, 2026, in the auditorium of the Museum, Miguel Satrústegui, a Spanish higher education teacher, gave a lecture that described essential episodes of the painting.
In addition an interactive infographic on the Prado’s website compiles the entire history and secrets of this portrait with abundant documentation.
Link
https://infoturlatam.com/museo-del-prado-celebra-recuperacion-de-un-goya/
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Thanks a lot to read and note.