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

Portrait of Juan Antonio Cuervo

1819
Oil on canvas, 120 x 87 cm
Museum of Art, Cleveland

The sitter was an architect who was appointed Director of the Royal Academy of San Fernando in August 1815. He wears the uniform of his office and holds dividers, an attribute of his profession. The plan on the table beside him is possibly for the church of Santiago in Madrid on which he had worked in 1811 and which made his reputation. The portrait was probably finished before Goya fell ill at the end of 1819 and is one of his last official portraits. The inscription indicates that it is at the same time a portrait of a friend.

The painting is signed: 'Dn. Juan Anto/Cuervo/Directr de la RI/Academia de Sn/Fernando/Por su amigo Goya/ano 1819'