Portrait of Mariana de Silva y Sarmiento, duquesa de Huescar (1740-1794)
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.This portrait of a Spanish noblewoman—herself an artist and a member of the Academia de San Fernando—is both haunting and enigmatic. It is a version of a work that passed down through the sitter’s family and was probably painted at the time of her second marriage in 1775, symbolized by the ring she holds and the faithful lapdog whose shape is left in reserve. We cannot say with any certainty why the portrait was left unfinished and then altered, with her facial features covered as if by a veil. The final result appeals to modern sensibilities and is almost surrealist in its obliteration of identity.
Artwork Details
- Title: Portrait of Mariana de Silva y Sarmiento, duquesa de Huescar (1740-1794)
- Artist: Anton Raphael Mengs (German, Ústi nad Labem (Aussig) 1728–1779 Rome)
- Date: 1775
- Geography: Country of Origin Spain
- Medium: Oil on panel
- Dimensions: 34 1/16 × 27 7/16 in. (86.5 × 69.7 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Mr. and Mrs. Otto Naumann, New York
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art