The painting under examination was attributed to Goya in the past; it came from the Casino Principal in Saragoza in 1870 and Don Carlos de Haes was the owner; successively, it belonged to J.Boehler from Monaco in Bavaria.
Purchased by Gimpel &Wildenstein in Paris, via With Wildenstein & Co. in New York, it arrived at the City Art Museum of St. Louis on the 28th of January 1936.
The portrait was then successfully exhibited, under the direction of the abovementioned Museum, in several shows across the United States until 1962; it was later ignored by the subsequent exhibitions on Goya, including the Spanish ones, and the recent monographs on Goya written by José Gudiol, Pierre Gassier, Juliet Wilson and Rita de Angelis, where it was only quoted without publishing any image.
In light of all this, and the painting being obscured by heavy retouching, the portrait was unfairly neglected by critics. The retouching was executed during the XIX and XX centuries, with the intention to make the image appear “gentler and embellished”, but actually bringing it closer to a fake.
The St. Louis Museum decided to sell it through a Sotheby’s auction in New York, on the 17th of April 1986, (lot 29). Later on, it was sold again at another Sotheby’s auction in New York, on the 26th of January 2008,(lot 40). In both auctions it was presented as a painting by a follower of Goya.
It entered the antique market and recently was bought by an Italian collector, who realized the potential of this artwork and placed it in the capable hands of Leonetto Giovannini, a wellknown Florentine Master restorer.
Following the removal of the retouching, guided by a scientific analysis campaign, the artwork revealed itself as a great Masterpiece, executed in Italy by Goya in 1771.
Exhibitions before the de-accession:
New York- Brooklyn Museum “Exbition of Spanish Painting” October4-31-1935.Reproduced N°22
New York -Wildenstein & Co “Goya 1746-1828” November 9-December 30-1951.
N°1 reproduced page.6 as circa 1771
Bordeaux- Municipalité de Bourdeaux –May 15-June 30- 1951-catalogue G.Martin-Hery
N°3 as painted at Saragozza
Base-Basel Kunsthalle “Goya: Gemalde , Zeichnungen , Graphik, Tapisserien” J
anuary 23-April 12-1953 N°2 as circa 1780
Boston , circulated by Smithsonian Institute “Goya Drawings and Prints”- 1955- not in catalogue
Omaha, Joslyn Art Museum “Notable Paintings from Midwestern Collections”
November 30-1956-January 2 1957 N°2.
Milwaukee, The Milwaukee Art Institute, “An Inaugural Exhibition: El Greco, Rembrandt, Goya, Cezanne, Van Gogh,
Picasso, “September 12-October 20- 1957.N°59 reproduced page 39.
Dallas, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts “The Arts of Man” October 6-December 31 1962
After the restoration the painting has been exhibited
Exhibition: “Goya attraverso i suoi autoritratti”, cured by P.E. Mangiante, Etgraphiae, Roma, 2015, introduzione
C. Strinati, pp. 7-9; scheda dell’opera P.E. Mangiante, P.E. Mangiante, reproduced at p.2- p.24 fig.6a- p.78 fig.22-
24-p.82 tav 1.
Exhibition: “Goya e Guido Reni”, cured by Pierluigi Carofano, Pontedera, Palazzo Pretorio, 15 Giugno – 10 Agosto
2017, pp. 15-30 e pp. 31-36 (essays by P.E. Mangiante, E. Massa)
Program for the future on going events on Goya
– 7th of December 2018, Malta, La Valletta: Istituto di Cultura Italiano: Symposium: “Goya: Il primo autoritratto”
– 12-13th of July 2019, Italia, Monte Santa Maria Tiberina (PG), Symposium: “Goya: la tecnica esecutiva”
– Autumn 2019-Spring 2020, Italy-Russia, Firenze Palazzo Medici Riccardi (e/o Genova, in iter), Hermitage San
Pietroburgo, Exhibition: “Goya e l’Italia” (to be confirmed)
Scientific curators
Fr Marius Zerafa
Paolo Erasmo Mangiante
Roberta Lapucci
Joan Abellò Jampere
Program of the Symposium
18.30- Massimo Sarti, President of the Italian Cultural Institute, Welcome
18.45- Fr Marius Zerafa, Introduction
19.15- Paolo Erasmo Mangiante, Un autoritratto redivivo di Francisco Goya
20.00- Roberta Lapucci, Disamina degli aspetti tecnici e del restauro
20.45- Discussion
21.00- Buffet
Scientific curators
Fr Marius Zerafa Director Emeritus National Museum of Malta
Lecturer at Angelicum University, Rome
Paolo Erasmo Mangiante
Prof. Paolo Erasmo Mangiante, has been teaching at the Genua University for over 50 years and is currently President of the Faculty. In the field of figurative arts at the beginning his interest dealt with Renaissance Art; his research in this field culminated with the ample volume: L’alba del Rinascimento. Since 25 years ago he concentrated on the paintings by Francisco Goya, particularly studying his Italian apprenticeship period and he has published many essays and articles on this topic.
Roberta Lapucci PhD in Art History and Restorer
Professor and Conservation Area Head at SACI, an American University located in Florence and owner of a conservation company Techno-Rest-Art, she is specialized in Diagnostic applied to Art.
Joan Abellò Jampere Docente, Università Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona