Jovellanos’s portrait of a woman hidden under the paint

Oviedo (Spain) This discovery has been possible to apply on the table, which is in the Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias, in Oviedo, a technique of X-ray and reflectography.

The portrait of Jovellanos in the sand of San Lorenzo (1780-1782), painted by Francisco de Goya, concealed under another painting, that of a young woman whose identity is unknown, also the work of the Aragonese artist.

This discovery has been possible to apply on the table, which is in the Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias, in Oviedo, a technique of X-rays and reflectography, as explained to journalists, the restorer of the art gallery, Clara González-Fanjul.

The application of this technique, the result of the agreement between the Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain (IPCE) and the Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias, also has served to uncover the underlying image, meet the conservation status of the work and guide Studies on the painter’s creative process.

Using the latest techniques in restoration have made it possible for radiographs obtained be scanned through a computer program, which has provided an overview of the X-ray work, which has led to the discovery of length female portrait.

The woman’s identity is still unknown and even though his discovery will not make a significant contribution, the specialist in Goya , Manuela Mena (who works at the Museo del Prado) investigated in this regard.

However, studies conducted so far and the sharpness of the x-box revealed that it is a young woman. Furthermore, “by the clothes and the position of the sitter follows that belongs to the nobility,” said the restorer.She added that there is no doubt that Goya is the author’s portrait of a woman hidden, as there are many similarities with that of Jovellanos, such as short and decisive brush strokes that describe the details in both works. The protagonists of the two portraits are also outlined, with one arm akimbo and have the same position on the feet.

It is not the only case in which Goya used a old picture as the basis for another, as this technique allowed faster painting portraits of his friends who used to do in one session, explained Gonzalez-Fanjul.

This finding, which coincides with the celebration of the bicentenary of the death of the writer illustrated, has been recently published in the Second Conference “Science and Art” at the Valencian Institute for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property.

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