Follower of Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes

Don Mariano Miguel Maldonado y Davalos, Count of Villagonzalo and Marquis de la Escala;
Thence by descent to the present owners.

Madrid, Museo del Prado, Centenario de Goya, April - May 1928, no. 38 (as Goya);
Venice, Galleria Internazionale d'Arte Moderna di Ca' Pesaro, Goya, 1746-1828, 7 May - 30 July 1989, no. 13 (as Goya).

A. De Beruete y Moret, Goya, as Portrait Painter, London 1922, p. 41 (as Goya);
A.L. Mayer, Francisco de Goya, Munich 1923, p. 47 (as Goya);
E. Lafuente Ferrari et. al., Catálogo ilustrado de la exposición de pinturas. Centenario de Goya, exhibition catalogue, Museo del Prado, Madrid 1928, cat. no. 38, reproduced (as Goya);
P. Gassier and J. Wilson, Goya, His Life and Work, London 1971, p. 76, cat. no. 120, preproduced p. 88 (as Goya);
J. Gudiol, Goya, Barcelona 1971, vol. I, p. 283, cat. no. 379, reproduced vol. III, fig. 548 (as Goya);
R. de Angelis, L'opera pittorica completa di Goya, Milan 1974, cat. no. 102, reproduced (as Goya);
J. Gallego et al., Goya, exhibition catalogue, Venice 1989, p. 88, cat. no. 13, reproduced p. 89 (as Goya).

The canvas is unlined and stable on its stretcher. The paint surface is very well preserved with all the original bravura brushwork intact. There is a small area of restored damage beneath the left point of his collar but otherwise the painting seems to be in remarkably original condition. Sold in a gilt frame, in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A later replica of the study of Giovanni Battista Pamphilj, Pope Innocent X, by Diego Velázquez,¹ which is thought to have been made by the artist, and bought back to Madrid on his return from Italy in June 1651, as a record of his celebrated full-length portrait of the Pope now in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome.² 

This painting has been recorded on numerous occasions as being an autograph work by Goya (1746-1828), and once bore an inscription along the bottom edge that read 'Innocent I, painted by Velázquez and copied by Goya.'  It is clear that Goya held the work of Velázquez in high regard, and it has been suggested that whilst he was ill for the most part of 1777 he passed his time studying Velásquez's oeuvre and that the series of etchings and drawings that he produced in 1778 were the outcome of his research.³


1. See C.M. Kauffmann, Catalogue of Paintings in the Wellington Museum, London 2009, p. 309, cat. no. 185, reproduced p. 310.
2. See E. Safarik and G. Torselli, La Galleria Doria Pamphilj a Roma, Rome 1982, p. 177, cat. no. 304, reproduced.
3. See P. Gassier and J. Wilson, Goya, His Life and Work, London 1971, p. 86, cat. nos 88-119.