Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zúñiga
| Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zúñiga | |
|---|---|
Oil on canvas[1] | |
| Dimensions | 127 cm × 101.6 cm (50 in × 40.0 in)[1] |
| Location | Metropolitan Museum of Art[1] |
Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zúñiga is a large full-length portrait in oil painted in 1787–88 by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya.[1] It depicts a boy three or four years of age, standing in red clothes, with birds and cats. It is also known as Goya's "Red Boy".[2] It was described by art historian Claus Virch in 1967 as "one of the most appealing and successful portraits of children ever painted, and also one of the most famous".[1] The painting has been held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York since 1949.
History
The painting was commissioned by the boy's father,
Altamira hired Goya to paint several family portraits. This painting, from 1787–88, depicts Altimira's youngest son, Manuel, who was born in April 1784 and died at age eight on June 12, 1792.
Description
Manuel is dressed in a red silk costume with white collar and cuffs, silver satin sash, and white shoes decorated with bows. He holds a string attached to his pet magpie, with Goya's visiting card in its beak. To Manuel's left is a cage of finches, while three cats are intently watching the magpie on his right.[1] The boy's pale face and bright costume contrast against the drab olive-brown background.
Analysis
The pets in this portrait have been analysed in many different ways. The caged birds may symbolize the innocent soul, the cats may be an evil force.
Legacy
The painting was hung with other family portraits at Altamira's palace in Madrid. It was auctioned in Paris in 1878 for 1,200 francs, and then acquired by the playwright
In 1926, Kathryn Bache Miller fell in love with this painting while at the Paris art gallery of Joseph Duveen. Her father, Jules Bache, then purchased it for $160,000.[7] The painting was hung prominently in her living room. Her interior decorator, Billy Baldwin, described her attachment to it as if it were a living being.[2] Her father bequeathed the painting to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on his death in 1944, and his estate transferred the painting to the museum in 1949, but it was allowed to be shown periodically in Miller's apartment until she died in 1979.[8]
From April 22 to August 3, 2014, the museum reunited Manuel with his parents in the exhibit Goya and the Altamira Family.[9] The exhibit also included portraits of his two brothers and his sister.[10]
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Goya's portrait of Vicente Joaquín Osorio de Moscoso y Guzmán, 1787. Collection of the Bank of Spain. -
Goya's portrait of the Countess of Altamira and her Daughter, 1787–88. Metropolitan Museum of Art -
Goya's portrait of Vicente Isabel Osorio de Moscoso, conde de Trastámara, 1786–87, at 9 or 10 years old. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuñiga (1784–1792)". Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- ^ a b Wolf, Riva (2010). "Goya's 'Red Boy': The Making of a Celebrity". In Schroth, Sarah (ed.). Art in Spain and the Hispanic World: Essays in Honor of Jonathan Brown (PDF). pp. 144–73.
- ^ Salomon (2014), p. 27.
- ^ Salomon (2014), p. 22.
- ^ Salomon (2014), p. 34.
- ^ "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters: Plate 43 of The Caprices". Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- ISBN 9781892145178.
- ^ Salomon (2014), pp. 4–6.
- ^ Rosenberg, Karen. "That Little Lost Boy in Red, Back With His Family". The New York Times.
- ^ "Goya and the Altamira Family". Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Bibliography
- Salomon, Xavier F. (2014). "Goya and the Altamira Family". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Spring 2014).
External links
- "Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuñiga (1784–1792), by Goya". Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Media related to Portrait of Don Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuniga at Wikimedia Commons
