The Duke and Duchess of Osuna and their Children

Goya finished this family group in 1788, and he owed a good deal to the two adults in it. The Duke and Duchess of Osuna were among his earliest important patrons, enlightened, book-loving aristocrats who kept commissioning him as his reputation grew. A warm group portrait like this was almost unheard of in Spain then. Grand Spanish portraits usually showed sitters stiff and alone, so Goya seems to have looked to Flemish and English examples for a way to gather a whole family into one easy scene. The four children read as individuals rather than miniature adults, each caught in a small gesture. The Duchess, from the powerful Benavente family, ran one of the liveliest salons in Madrid, and Goya painted her in her own full-length portrait as well.