The Architect Ventura Rodriguez

In 1784 the leading architect in Spain was Ventura Rodriguez, master builder of Madrid and favourite of Don Luis de Bourbon, a brother of King Charles the Third. Goya painted him seated with the tools of his trade, gesturing toward one of his designs, and the long inscription records that the picture was ordered by the architect's own wife. Rodriguez was 67 and near the end of a busy life. He died the following year, in 1785, while Goya, still climbing at court, was on his way to painting the king himself. The face is where Goya spends his effort: watchful and quietly pleased, the look of a man reviewing a plan he is proud of.