Portrait of the Duke of San Carlos

In 1814 Ferdinand VII came back to the Spanish throne and set about punishing those who had served the French during the occupation. Goya, who had painted for the intruder king's circle, was among the suspected, and it was Jose Miguel de Carvajal, Duke of San Carlos, a court official close to Ferdinand, who spoke up on his behalf. This full-length portrait from 1815 reads as the painter's thanks. Goya set the viewpoint low so the duke looms larger than life, lavishing attention on the sash and the gleam of his dress. In the corner he signed it plainly, His Excellency the Duke of San Carlos, by Goya, 1815.