Detail of Therese Louise de Sureda by Goya in the National Gallery, September 2009

Francisco de Goya (artist)
Spanish, 1746 - 1828
Thérèse Louise de Sureda, c. 1803/1804
oil on canvas
overall: 119.7 x 79.4 cm (47 1/8 x 31 1/4 in.) framed: 137.8 x 98.4 cm (54 1/4 x 38 3/4 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. P.H.B. Frelinghuysen in memory of her father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. H.O. Havemeyer
1942.3.1

Thérèse Louise Chapronde Saint Amand met her Spanish husband while he was in Paris to study the manufacture of textiles and porcelains. Although her portrait was painted in Spain, she epitomizes current French styles. Her hair is combed in the “antique” manner, and her empire armchair is decorated with “Egyptian” heads. Although little is known of her, letters she wrote after her marriage in 1803 reveal her scathing disapproval of extravagance in others.

Thérèse sits erect with a self-conscious propriety and does not rely on the chair’s back for support. Since she holds her arms close to her torso, her form is tightly confined. Goya’s matching portrait of her husband, Bartolomé Sureda y Miserol by contrast, shows a much more casual figure leaning to one side, with arm akimbo.

Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=991