Highlights from the Collection

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The Art Institute of Chicago. The Art of Goya: Paintings, Drawings, and Prints, January 30–March 2, 1941, no. 52.
Ontario. Art Gallery of Toronto. Loan Exhibition of Great Paintings in Aid of Allied Merchant Seamen, February 4–March 5, 1944, no. 26.
Missouri. City Art Museum of St. Louis. Forty Masterpieces: A Loan Exhibition of Paintings from American Museums, October 6–November 10, 1947, no. 18.
Minnesota. Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Great Portraits by Famous Masters, November 13–December 21, 1952, no. 28.
Richmond. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The Art of Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, January 16–March 1, 1953.
New York. Buffalo Fine Arts Academy-Albright Art Gallery. Painters' Painters, April 16–May 30, 1954, no. 17.
Wisconsin. Milwaukee Art Institute. An Inaugural Exhibition, September 10–October 20, 1957, no. 56.
Indianapolis, Indiana. John Herron Museum of Art. El Greco to Goya, February 10–March 24, 1963, no. 32.
Providence, Rhode Island. Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. El Greco to Goya, April 19–May 26, 1963, no. 32.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. In a New Light: Treasures from the Taft, July 3, 2021–May 1, 2022.

Queen María Luisa (1751–1819), wife of King Charles IV of Spain, poses in all her finery. She wears an arrow-shaped hair ornament; diamond, sapphire, and pearl jewelry; and an empire-waist gown. By the time Francisco de Goya painted this portrait, María Luisa had been through at least two dozen pregnancies, lost all her teeth, and wore wood-and-porcelain dentures. To flaunt her flawless white arms, she forbade gloves at court. Goya began this work as one of ten studies of royal family members for his monumental group portrait The Family of Charles IV.

Acquired by the dukes of Montpensier, Palacio de San Telmo, Seville, Spain, probably by 1860; by descent to the duc Antoine de Montpensier, prince d'Orléans; (purchased by Durand-Ruel, Paris, January 18, 1910); purchased by Baron Denys Cochin [1851-1922], Paris, May 3, 1910. (Acquired by Scott and Fowles, New York, NY); purchased by Charles Phelps Taft [1843-1929] and Anna Sinton Taft [1850-1931], Cincinnati, OH, 1912; donated to the Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts, Cincinnati, OH, May 21, 1927 [1]; transferred to the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH, September 1, 2006 [2].

Notes:

[1]. The Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts (CIFA) was formed by Charles Phelps Taft and Anna Sinton Taft on March 22, 1927 as a non-profit corporation to stimulate the development of art and music in the City of Cincinnati and run the Taft Museum of Art, which opened in 1932. The Tafts offered $1 million for a permanent endowment fund, on the condition that the community raise $2.5 million in matching funds, which was achieved by December 3, 1928. [2]. Until August 31, 2006, the Museum was owned by CIFA, administered by CIFA’s Board of Trustees, and governed by the Taft Museum Board of Overseers. On September 1, 2006, the Museum legally separated from CIFA and began operations as its own incorporated 501(c)(3) entity. This separate incorporation led to the transfer to the separate entity after August 31, 2006 of all tangible assets comprising the Taft collection.

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