José Moñino y Redondo, conte di Floridablanca

In 1783 Goya was 37 and hungry for advancement. He had recently been made a member of the Royal Academy, which opened the doors of Madrid's court, and this was one of the first great commissions to come through them. The sitter was Jose Monino, Count of Floridablanca, chief minister to Charles the Third and about the most powerful man in Spain not wearing a crown. Goya gives him the full apparatus of office, the red suit, the blue sash, plans for a canal spread on the table, a bust of the king watching from the wall. And down in the shadows at the left, easy to miss, Goya painted himself holding up a small canvas toward the minister, as if presenting his work for approval. The count, lit and raised slightly above true height at the centre, barely turns to look at him.