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The Toilette

1772
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 641
This painting engages a complex cultural situation: in 1714, the French-descended Bourbons took control of the Spanish throne, ruling a country proud of its rich artistic heritage under the previous dynasty. Paret has adapted French painter Jean François de Troy’s subjects of contemporary life to Spain. The woman known as a petimetra—an archetype vilified for overly eager consumption of non-Spanish luxury fashions—is depicted with a disfigured, rich, older man. Goya would later develop such social critique. The distinctive gold signature with crown affirms this painting was executed for the king’s younger brother. A political misstep in 1775 led to Paret’s exile to Puerto Rico, where he taught his distinctive enamel-like technique to José Campeche, the country’s first painter in the European tradition.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Toilette
  • Artist: Luis Paret y Alcázar (Spanish, Madrid 1746–1799 Madrid)
  • Date: 1772
  • Medium: Oil on wood
  • Dimensions: 19 1/2 × 22 1/2 in. (49.5 × 57.2 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Florence and Herbert Irving Acquisitions Fund; Bequest of Lillian S. Timken, by exchange; Marquand Fund; The Alfred N. Punnett Endowment Fund; and funds from various donors, 2025
  • Object Number: 2025.301
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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The Fête Galante, Luis Paret y Alcázar Spanish, Oil on wood
The Fête Galante
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Rapier, Steel, blade, Spanish, Toledo; hilt, European, possibly Spanish
Rapier
blade, Spanish, Toledo; hilt, European, possibly Spanish
blade, ca. 1635; hilt, late 17th century
A Bouquet of Flowers, Clara Peeters Flemish, Oil on wood
A Bouquet of Flowers
Clara Peeters
ca. 1612
Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuñiga (1784–1792), Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) Spanish, Oil on canvas
Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuñiga (1784–1792)
Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)
1787–88
Studies of a standing man holding a hat and a girl in profile, Luis Paret y Alcázar Spanish, Pen and brown ink on off-white paper
Studies of a standing man holding a hat and a girl in profile
Luis Paret y Alcázar
ca. 1766–1774

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