Luis, rey de Etruria

In the summer of 1800 Goya painted a young prince on a red ground, quickly and directly, as a study for his great royal family portrait. The man looks vibrant and full of life. He would be dead two years later.

The story behind the painting

This oil sketch is one of ten studies from life that Goya painted at the royal palace of Aranjuez in the summer of 1800, while preparing The Family of Charles IV. At the wish of Queen Maria Luisa of Parma, he painted each member of the royal family separately, so that they would not all have to pose together for long hours. The sitter is Louis of Bourbon, son of Ferdinand I of Parma and Maria Amalia of Austria. He was duke of Parma and became king of Etruria. He married the Infanta Maria Luisa, daughter of Charles IV of Spain and Maria Luisa of Parma, and from them descends the House of Bourbon-Parma.

What to look for

All of these sketches share a red ground layer and facial features built up in a single tone, as are the main masses. Once the planes and proportions were set, Goya added the nuances of colour. Here you can see that method at work, the warm ground glowing through. The prince wears the red sash of the Golden Fleece, together with the ribbons of the Order of Charles III of Spain and the Order of Saint Januarius. Wikidata gives the size as 72.5 by 59.4 cm. Compare the face with the finished group portrait: in this study it looks far more solemn and serious.

Meaning and intent

The French Wikipedia article calls this one of the most interesting portraits Goya made for The Family of Charles IV. The painter captures in the king of Etruria a vibrant, expressive figure, apparently full of vitality. The sketch was a working tool, a way to fix a likeness without keeping the whole court standing still, yet it has its own life. Knowing that the sitter died only two years after it was painted gives that lively face a quiet poignancy: the vitality Goya recorded so swiftly would not last.

Legacy

The painting came from the royal collections and was recorded in the royal palace in Madrid in 1814. It entered the Prado before 1834, since it appears in that year's inventory of the Royal Museum, and it was first cited in the Prado's official catalogue in 1872. It remains in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, alongside the great group portrait for which it was made, so visitors can still compare the quick study with the finished royal family.