Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In this
Spanish name, the first or paternal surname
is Tudó and the second or maternal family name is Catalán.
Her Highness
Josefa de Tudó
Princess of Bassano
Duchess of Alcudia
Duchess of Sueca
art model
SpouseManuel Godoy
Parent(s)Antonio de Tudó y Alemany and Catalina Catalán y Luesia

Josefa de Tudó y Catalán, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel,

Manuel de Godoy
.

It has been suggested she was the model for two paintings by Goya, La maja desnuda (The Naked Maja) and La maja vestida (The Clothed Maja).[1]

Biography

Tudó was born in

Manuel de Godoy, one of the most powerful men in Spain
. By 1800, Pepita had become Godoy's mistress.

However, the

Manuel
, and in 1807, she gave birth to another son, Luis.

In 1807, under Godoy's influence,

Carlos IV presented Pepita with the title of Countess of Castillo Fiel and Viscountess of Rocafuerte. When María Teresa died in November 1828, Godoy and Pepita could finally marry, even though they had secretly performed a marriage ceremony years earlier. The following year or possibly even that same December, Godoy and Pepita married. The Pope made him 1st Principe di Paserano; however, they moved to Paris in 1832 where they lived in somewhat straitened circumstances. Godoy was later given a pension by Louis Philippe I
.

Later, Pepita returned to Spain in hopes of reclaiming the family properties. At ninety years old, Pepita told a reporter that Godoy knew only one true love: Queen María Luisa.

The Fundación Lázaro Galdiano in Madrid has a miniature, Portrait of Josefa Tudó Cathalán Alemani, condesa de Castillofiel, attributed to Ducker, painted around 1805.[2]

In popular culture

Pepita is considered by many historians to be the model for one of Francisco de Goya's most notorious works, La maja desnuda.

The writer Ceferino Palencia wrote a play called Pepita Tudó, and casting his half-Scottish wife Isabel Oyarzábal Smith in the titular role in the 1930s.

Pepita Tudó was portrayed by Penélope Cruz in the 1999 film Volavérunt.

Gallery

Notes

  1. ^ Name in full: Spanish: Doña Josefa Petra Francisca de Paula de Tudó y Catalán, Alemany y Luesia, primera condesa de Castillo Fiel, primera vizcondesa de Rocafuerte.

References

  1. ^ "The Clothed Maja". Museo del Prado.
  2. ISBN 978-84-00-09235-1
    .
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pepita Tudó.
Spanish nobility
New title Countess
of Castillo Fiel
1807-1869 		Succeeded by
Manuel de
Godoy di Bassano
Viscountess
of Rocafuerte
1807-1869 		Succeeded by
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