Young Lady Wearing a Mantilla and Basquina by Goya in the National Gallery, September 2009

Francisco de Goya (artist)
Spanish, 1746 - 1828
Young Lady Wearing a Mantilla and Basquina, c. 1800/1805
oil on canvas
overall: 109.5 x 77.5 cm (43 1/8 x 30 1/2 in.) framed: 125.4 x 93.6 x 6 cm (49 3/8 x 36 7/8 x 2 3/8 in.)
Gift of Mrs. P.H.B. Frelinghuysen
1963.4.2
On View

From the Tour: Francisco de Goya
The mantilla, a gauze and lace headdress that drapes over a woman’s shoulders, is a distinctly Spanish form of attire. Also unique to Spain is the basquiña, a short-sleeved overdress for outdoor wear. This canvas, known for more than a century as “The Bookseller’s Wife,” may instead represent a character study of an upper-class woman. As yet unidentified, she is much like some figures in Goya’s tapestries that show Spaniards from all walks of life.

Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=46469