Портрет маркизы де Сантьяго

Goya painted this full-length portrait in 1804, a few years before Spain was dragged into war with Napoleon. The Marquesa de Santiago stands against a stretch of low hills, wealthy and self-possessed, a white lace mantilla falling to her knees and a closed fan in one hand. Where fashionable portraitists of the day smoothed every surface to flatter, Goya worked fast and rough. Thick dabs of paint stand in for the gold braid on her sleeve and the lace at her shoulders, so the finery half dissolves when you step close. She had a reputation for a wild, dissolute life. She died three years after sitting for this, at the age of 43.