Inscription: Signed, dated, and inscribed (lower right): M. Fortuny / Roma 186[5?].
Duque de Riánsares y de Montmorot, Agustín Fernando Muñoz y Sanchez, Saint-Adresse (1865; commissioned from the artist, gave to Gaye); collection Gaye-García, Paris (about 1865); James H. Stebbins, Paris and New York (by 1875–89; his sale, American Art Galleries, New York, February 12, 1889, no. 77, as "A Spanish Lady [Une dame espagnole]"), for $6,500 to Keeler for Clark); Alfred Corning Clark, New York (1889)
New York. National Academy of Design. "Loan Exhibition in Aid of the Society of Decorative Art," 1878, no. 55 (as "A Spanish Lady," lent by James H. Stebbins).
Palm Beach. Society of the Four Arts. "Spanish Painting," January 11–February 6, 1952, no. 12.
Palm Beach. Society of the Four Arts. "Spanish Painting, XVII–XX Centuries," January 4–27, 1963, no catalogue?
Madrid. Museo Nacional del Prado. "Fortuny (1838-1874)," November 21, 2017–March 18, 2018, no. 22 (as "Mirope Savati [La Señora de Gaye]").
Arsène Houssaye. Letter. n.d. [after 1874] [reprinted in "Catalogue of the Private Collection of Paintings and Sculpture Belonging to Mr. James H. Stebbins," American Art Association, Publishers, New York, 1889, p. 108], identifies the sitter as the wife of a Spanish Secretary of Embassy at Rome and remarks that it is the only portrait of a woman that Fortuny ever painted; praises the work, likening Fortuny to Velázquez; notes that he saw it at Stebbins's house.
baron Ch[arles]. Davillier. Fortuny sa vie, son œuvre, sa correspondance. Paris, 1875, p. 148, calls it "Portrait de femme" and lists it in the collection of James H. Stebbins, Paris.
Walther Fol. "Fortuny." Gazette des beaux-arts, 2nd ser., 11 (March 1875), p. 274, identifies the sitter as Mme Gaye, the wife of the Duque de Rianzarez's [sic] personal secretary.
Oeuvres choisies de Fortuny reproduites en photographie. Paris, 1875, pl. 45, as "Portrait d'une dame espagnole," in the collection of Mr. J. H. Stebbins.
[J. B.] Fuller-Walker. "The Loan Exhibition." Aldine 9 (January 1, 1879), p. 230, erroneously states that it was the only portrait Fortuny painted; praises the picture.
Edward Strahan [Earl Shinn], ed. The Art Treasures of America. Philadelphia, [1880], vol. 1, pp. 96, 106, calls it "Portrait of Mme. Garcia".
Cicerone. "American Art Galleries: X. Collection of James H. Stebbins, Esq." Art Amateur 5 (July 1881), p. 30, calls it "Portrait of a Spanish Lady" and identifies the sitter as Madame Garcia, wife of the Secretary to the Spanish ambassador in Rome.
Montezuma [Montague Marks]. "My Note Book." Art Amateur 20 (January 1889), p. 26, calls it "A Spanish Lady" and identifies the sitter as Madame Garcia.
Catalogue of the Private Collection of Paintings and Sculpture Belonging to Mr. James H. Stebbins, New York. New York, 1889, pp. 107–8, no. 77, ill. opp. p. 107, calls it "A Spanish Lady" and dates it 1862; publishes Refs. Strahan 1879 and Arsène Houssaye n.d.
William Sharp. "The Art Treasures of America (Concluded.)." Living Age, 7th ser., 1 (December 3, 1898), p. 606, as "Jeune Dame Espagnole".
Arthur Hoeber. The Treasures of The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York. New York, 1899, pp. 100–101, ill., as "A Spanish Lady".
A[lfred]. G[eorge]. Temple. Modern Spanish Painting; being a review of some of the chief painters and paintings of the Spanish school since the time of Goya. London, 1908, p. 81, dates it 1865, calls it "Portrait of Madame Garcia," and lists it as having been in the collections of J. H. Stebbins and A. C. Clark.
Masters in Art: Fortuny 10 (1909), pp. 70, 80, pl. I.
Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler. Ed. Ulrich Thieme. Vol. 12, Leipzig, 1916, p. 232, erroneously attributes it to Fortuny y Carbó.
Joaquin Ciervo. El arte y el vivir de Fortuny. Barcelona, [1921], pp. 62–63, pl. 43.
Harry B. Wehle. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Catalogue of Italian, Spanish, and Byzantine Paintings. New York, 1940, p. 300, ill., calls it "Portrait of Madame Gaye" and identifies the sitter as the wife of the secretary of the Duke of Riánsares, the husband of Christina, Queen Regent of Spain.
Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 37.
E. Bénézit. Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs. new ed. Paris, 1976, vol. 4, p. 447, erroneously attributes it to the artist Mariano Fortuny y Carbó and calls it "Espagnole".
Carlos González López and Montserrat Martí Ayxelà. Mariano Fortuny Marsal. Barcelona, 1989, vol. 1, p. 214, colorpl. 63; vol. 2, p. 53, no. RT-0.01.65, remark that it was commissioned from the artist by the duke of Riánsares for his secretary Mr. Gayé and mention an oil study.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 168, ill.
Dolores Durán Ucar Carlos González inFortuny. Exh. cat., Centro de Exposiciónes y Congresos. Zaragoza, 1998, p. 200.
Javier Barón inFortuny (1838–1874). Ed. Javier Barón. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2017, p. 24.
Pedro J. Martínez Plaza inFortuny (1838–1874). Ed. Javier Barón. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2017, pp. 139–41, no. 22, ill. (color), calls it "Mirope Savati (La señora de Gaye)"; states that the Savati family owned the work in Rome in 1865; suggests that the picture was a wedding portrait and that the pendant she holds in her left hand may have been a gift from her new husband; states that her name suggests the sitter was Italian; notes the influence of Carolus-Duran's portraits; identifies drawing studies for the painting (see Notes).
Santiago Alcolea inFortuny (1838–1874). Ed. Javier Barón. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2017, p. 431, suggests that the portrait may have been Fortuny's way of thanking José Gaye for his efforts on the painter's behalf.
Mireia Berenguer Amat and Francesc Quílez Corella. "Novedades en torno a obras de Fortuny desaparecidas." Locus Amœnus 19 (2021), p. 163.
Mirope Savati Gaye was the wife of José Gaye (1827–1869), the secretary to the duke of Riánsares, who was the second husband of María Cristina, Queen Regent of Spain.
Martínez Plaza 2017 identified several drawing studies for The Met's picture. Among them are: "Female Figure in an Interior" (ca. 1863–66, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona), which includes a table with an oil lamp at left behind the sitter that the artist removed in the final composition; another in which the sitter's right hand is, similarly, lifting the hem of her dress (Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid, Album 16, DIB/18/1/5708, fol. 8); a third frontal study of the sitter's face and hairstyle (Subastas Segre, Madrid, February 2012, no. 14, as "Retrato de mujer"); and a previously published fourth painted bust study (González and Martí Ayxelà 1989, vol. 2, p. 53).
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
