Infanta María Luisa (1782–1824) and Her Son Carlos Luis (1799–1883)

Eugène Fromentin, Paris (until d. 1876); his nephew, René Billotte and Madame Billotte, Paris (1876–1904; sold by Madame Billotte for $12,579 to Davis); Theodore M. Davis, Newport, R.I. (1904–d. 1915; his estate, on loan to The Met, 1915–30)

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Francisco Goya: His Paintings, Drawings and Prints," January 27–March 8, 1936, no. 7.

Louisville. Speed Art Museum. "Old Masters from the Metropolitan," December 1, 1948–January 23, 1949, no catalogue.

Madison. Memorial Union Gallery, University of Wisconsin. "Old Masters from the Metropolitan," February 15–March 30, 1949, unnumbered cat.

Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. "Old Masters from the Metropolitan," April 24–June 30, 1949, no catalogue.

Honolulu Academy of Arts. "Four Centuries of European Painting," December 8, 1949–January 29, 1950, no. 15.

Art Gallery of Toronto. "Fifty Paintings by Old Masters," April 21–May 21, 1950, no. 17.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Goya: Drawings and Prints," May 4–30, 1955, no. 171.

Tokyo National Museum. "Treasured Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art," August 10–October 1, 1972, no. 88.

Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. "Treasured Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 8–November 26, 1972, no. 88.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Goya in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 12–December 31, 1995, unnumbered cat.

Cipriano Muñoz y Manzano, conde de la Viñaza. Goya, su tiempo, su vida, sus obras. Madrid, 1887, p. 217, no. 8.

Paul Lafond. Goya. Paris, [1902], pp. 64, 119, no. 27, calls it a portrait of Queen María Luisa, in the Billotte collection, formerly collection Fromentin.

Valerian von Loga. Francisco de Goya. Berlin, 1903, p. 188, no. 129 [2nd ed., 1921], calls it a portrait of Queen María Luisa of Parma.

"The Sibyl, by Rembrandt: Princess Maria Louisa Josephine by Goya." Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin 3 (December 1905), pp. 45, 48, reports its loan to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston by Theodore M. Davis; observes that this picture appears to be a study for the Prado "Family of Charles IV" though "executed in a different temper"; finds evidence of Goya's hand in the modelling of the princess's face, commenting that here "the portraiture may well be more exact than in the larger canvas".

Albert F. Calvert. Goya, an Account of His Life and Works. London, 1908, p. 126, no. 36, erroneously as a portrait of Queen María Luisa of Parma and still in the Billotte collection.

Hugh Stokes. Francisco Goya: A Study of the Work and Personality of the Eighteenth Century Spanish Painter and Satirist. London, 1914, p. 327, no. 35, erroneously as a portrait of Queen María Luisa, still in the Billotte collection.

A. de Beruete y Moret. Goya: Pintor de retratos. Madrid, 1916, pp. 87, 170, no. 41, pl. 27 [English ed., 1922, pp. 107, 204, no. 43, pl. 30], includes it among the studies for the Prado "Family of Charles IV," calling it and a portrait of the Queen (Alte Pinacoteca, Munich) "real portraits rather than studies. I imagine that, having pleased the sitters, the painter finished them, covering the portions of canvas which in the others are left in the real type of studies, but without covering the whole of the canvas"; lists it in a private collection, New York, and mentions the existence of another study (wherebouts unknown).

August L. Mayer. Francisco de Goya. Munich, 1923, p. 182, no. 116, pl. 132 [English ed., 1924, p. 145, no. 116, pl. 132], erroneously as still in the Billotte collection; calls it a study for the Prado "Family of Charles IV".

A. de Beruete y Moret. Conferencias de arte. Madrid, 1924, p. 291, ill. opp. p. 290 [reprints text from Ref. Beruete y Moret 1916].

Tomás G. Larraya. Goya: Su vida, sus obras. Barcelona, 1928, p. 187, erroneously as still in the Billotte collection.

X. Desparmet Fitz-Gerald. L'oeuvre peint de Goya: Catalogue raisonné. Paris, 1928–50, vol. 2, p. 237, no. 529s, dates it 1800 and, based on a photograph, considers it authentic.

R. Gómez de la Serna. Goya. Madrid, [1928], p. 264.

Bryson Burroughs. "The Theodore M. Davis Bequest: The Paintings." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 26, section 2 (March 1931), pp. 15–16, calls it a vivid study from life, "a painting like many to be seen in the Prado—Goya's fiery genius evident in every stroke".

Francisco Goya: His Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1936, unpaginated, no. 7, ill., calls it a study for the Prado "Family of Charles IV".

Harry B. Wehle. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Catalogue of Italian, Spanish, and Byzantine Paintings. New York, 1940, pp. 247–48, ill., calls it one of the studies for the Prado "Family of Charles IV" that was "carried further than the rest either by Goya or by someone else at a later time".

Xavier de Salas. Goya: La familia de Carlos IV. Barcelona, 1944, p. 31, does not believe that studies for the "Family of Charles IV" in collections outside the Prado are by Goya.

Enrique Lafuente Ferrari. Antecedentes, coincidencias e influencias del arte de Goya: Catalogo ilustrado de la exposicion celebrada en 1932. Madrid, 1947, p. 277, comments that Eduardo Núñez Peñasco copied many Goya figures from the Prado "Family of Charles IV" and that this picture is probably from Peñasco's workshop.

Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 43.

Valentín de Sambricio. "Los retratos de Carlos IV y María Luisa, por Goya." Archivo español de arte 30 (April-June 1957), p. 105, calls it more of a real portrait than a study; considers it a copy by Agustín Esteve of Goya's "Family of Charles IV," made for the court of Parma [but see Martin S. Soria, "Agustin Esteve and Goya," Art Bulletin, vol. 25, September 1943, pp. 241, 261, who locates Esteve's two portraits of the Infanta María Luisa in collections in Valencia].

Juan Antonio Gaya Nuño. La pintura española fuera de España. Madrid, 1958, p. 168, no. 987, remarks that it differs in treatment and size from the other, well-known studies for the Prado "Family of Charles IV" .

Frederic Taubes. "Problems of Underpainting." American Artist 24 (January 1960), p. 48, says that this picture was made in one sitting; sees an orange ground and glazing in the painted shadows.

Elizabeth du Gué Trapier. Goya and His Sitters: A Study of His Style as a Portraitist. New York, 1964, p. 21, considers only the five portrait studies in the Prado authentic; remarks that the other pictures "cannot compare in excellence with the studies in the Prado, and it seems probable that some of them were done by assistants after the completion of the large group".

Pierre Gassier and Juliet Wilson. Vie et oeuvre de Francisco Goya. Ed. François Lachenal. Fribourg, Switzerland, 1970, pp. 148–49, 167, 196 [English ed., 1971, pp. 148–49, 166, 196], note that Goya made a study from life of the Infanta María Luisa, but no individual study of her son, and that "only attributed studies of the mother and child are known"; call the presumed studies for the "Family of Charles IV" in collections outside Spain of "doubtful authenticity".

José Gudiol. Goya 1746–1828: Biographie, analyse critique et catalogue des peintures. Paris, 1970, vol. 1, p. 285, no. 433; vol. 3, fig. 698 [Spanish ed., 1969–70; English ed., 1971, vol. 1, p. 291, no. 433; vol. 3, fig. 698], groups this picture and the five Prado portraits together as the studies for the "Family of Charles IV", calling them "the best work [Goya] produced in portraiture in all his life".

Jörg Traeger. "Goyas Königliche Familie: Hofkunst und Bürgerblick." Münchner Jahrbuch der Bildenden Kunst, 3rd ser., 41 (1990), p. 148, considers it one of the original sketches by Goya for the "Family of Charles IV".

José Luis Morales y Marín. Goya: Catálogo de la pintura. Saragossa, 1994, p. 270 [English ed., 1997], includes it among works that have been called studies for the royal group portrait, listing authentic studies separately.

Susan Alyson Stein in Goya in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1995, pp. 39, 45, 48, 51, 61 n. 27, p. 68, fig. 24 and figs. 25, 39, 40 (installation views), calls it a copy, possibly based on a lost original study for the Prado "Family of Carlos IV"; observes that the heads are "the most convincingly painted" and the costume "ineffectively translated," suggesting that a head-and-shoulder preparatory sketch by Goya was used as a model; considers it likely that this picture was commissioned from Goya's studio with his participation or under his supervision.

Nigel Glendinning. "Goya at the Metropolitan." Apollo 142 (December 1995), p. 66, believes it should be reappraised because "it has all the marks of a genuine Goya sketch"; calls it "particularly impressive" and notes similarities with the Prado sketches in the facial expressions and the treatment of the pearls, hair, and clothing; cites Beruete's [Ref. 1916] description of this picture in support of an attribution to Goya.

Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 166, ill.

José Manuel Arnaiz. "Nuevas andanzas de Goya: Falsos y auténticos en el Metropolitan." Galería antiquaria no. 136 (February 1996), p. 42, states that the horizontal craquelure in the picture suggests it was rolled in order to simulate its "nonexistent antiquity," and adds that at first glance it appears to be a work of the late 19th or early 20th century.

Jeannine Baticle. "Goya au Metropolitan." Connaissance des arts no. 527 (April 1996), p. 63, calls it a copy after Goya.

Juliet Wilson-Bareau. "Goya in The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Burlington Magazine 138 (February 1996), pp. 101–2, calls it a copy after Goya's original sketch.

Manuela B. Mena Marqués et al. in Goya: La familia de Carlos IV. Ed. Manuela B. Mena Marqués. Madrid, 2002, pp. 241, 266 n. 154, date it about 1800 and note that its size corresponds to the original studies for the "Family of Charles IV" (about 100 x 80 cm) [Refs. Gassier Wilson 1971 and Gudiol 1971 give the dimensions for the Prado studies as 74 x 60 cm]; observe that an 1808 inventory of the Royal Palace mentions seven studies for the royal group portrait and that one of the missing studies may be that of the Infanta María Luisa, which is also the only study not listed in an 1814 Royal Palace inventory; suggest that the MMA work may be based on this lost study of the Infanta; add that the original study could have been "finished" some time later and then copied.

María Teresa Rodríguez Torres. Un Retrato de Palafox en "La Familia de Carlos IV". [Madrid], [2008], pp. 34, 36–37, 39, 194–95, 212–16, 218–27, 230–39, 241, 297–98, figs. 141, 151-57, 159, 161, 165, 167, 170-71 (color, overall and details, paint cross-sections, and x-radiographs, overall and details).

The Infanta María Luisa (1782–1824) was the daughter of Charles IV and Queen María Luisa of Parma. She married her cousin, Luis de Borbón, Prince of Parma, who became King of Etruria in 1801. In our portrait, she is holding her son, Carlos Luis, who became King of Etruria after his father's death, in 1803, until the kingdom was annexed to France in 1807. He is wearing the sash of the Order of Charles III. The Infanta wears the sash of the Order of Queen María Luisa.

Earlier viewed as one of the full-scale oil sketches painted by Goya for the Family of Charles IV (1800; Prado, Madrid), this picture is now generally considered a copy of a lost original. From Goya's account (see Cipriano Muñoz y Manzano, Conde de la Viñaza. Goya, su tiempo, su vida, sus obras, Madrid, 1887, p. 215) and from a June 9, 1800, letter of Queen María Luisa, we know that he made ten studies for the principal figures at Aranjuez, the summer residence of the royal family. An 1808 inventory of the Royal Palace mentions seven studies without identifying them individually, and an 1814 inventory identifies nine studies, omitting only that of the Infanta María Luisa and her son (see José Luis Sancho, "Francisco de Goya y Fréderic Quilliet en el Palacio Real de Madrid, 1808," Boletin del Museo del Prado 19 [2001], p. 120; and Mena Marqués et. al. 2002, pp. 195, 240). Five of the original studies are, without doubt, those now in the Prado. Four others were at one time in the Palace of San Telmo, Seville, before being scattered among various collections. Most scholars agree that these other canvases cannot compare with the studies in the Prado, and see them as copies made by assistants after the completion of the large group portrait. These works may have originated as commissions in Goya's studio, possibly with his assistance (see Stein 1995).

Another weak copy or version of this portrait, once in the collection of Baron Edmond de Rothschild, was exhibited in 1937 at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, no. 19, as lent by Dr. Franz Herbert Hirschland (photo in European Paintings department archives).