The Count of Floridablanca

By 1783 Francisco Goya was 37 and still climbing. He had been made a member of the Royal Academy only three years earlier, and this was one of the first grand commissions that climb bought him. His sitter is Jose Monino, Count of Floridablanca, chief minister to Charles III and about as powerful as a Spaniard could be without wearing a crown. Goya paints him head to toe in red, the blue sash of the king's order across his chest, a plan for a canal to bring water to Murcia at his feet. Look to the left and there is Goya himself, small and in profile, holding up a canvas for the minister to inspect. The great man does not quite look at him. On the desk lies a book stamped with the painter's own name, a quiet bid for the attention he had not yet won.