Portrait of Tadeo Bravo de Rivero

Goya painted this full-length portrait in 1806 and signed it, at the lower right, to his friend Don Tadeo Bravo de Rivero. The sitter was born in Peru, a lawyer from Lima who had come to Madrid, prospered, and joined the circle around the painter. At his feet stands a hunting dog, an old sign of loyalty, here pointing to his allegiance to King Charles IV. That loyalty was about to be tested: two years later Napoleon's armies occupied Spain, Charles IV was forced off his throne, and Madrid rose against the French in the revolt Goya would later paint. Bravo de Rivero went on to serve as a deputy for Lima and lived until 1820.