GOYA Y LUCIENTES, Francisco de
(b. 1746, Fuendetodos, d. 1828, Bordeaux)

Portrait of María Teresa de Vallabriga on Horseback

1783
Oil on canvas, 82,5 x 61,7 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

In the summer of 1783 the Infante Don Luis de Borbón, brother of Charles III, invited Goya to stay at his residence of Arena de San Pedro, where the painter executed a series of portraits (possibly sixteen) of Don Luis's family. Goya mentions the equestrian portrait of María Teresa de Vallabriga, the wife of Don Luis, in a letter to his friend Martin Zapater on 2 July 1784.

Although the artist referred to a painting that was unfinished, the reference has been linked to this canvas of the Uffizi.

Evident in this work is Goya's revival and re-adaptation of the 17-century tradition of the equestrian portrait, particularly that of Velázquez.