Friar Miguel Fernández Flores
Artist
Francisco de Goya
(Spanish, 1746–1828)
Date1815
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionscanvas: 100.2 × 84.1 cm (39 7/16 × 33 1/8 in.)
framed: 130.5 × 114.9 × 10.2 cm (51 3/8 × 45 1/4 × 4 in.)
framed: 130.5 × 114.9 × 10.2 cm (51 3/8 × 45 1/4 × 4 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1911.25
Label TextGoya painted this work in the year Fernandez was appointed Bishop of Quito in Ecuador, inscribing it "The Most Illustrious Senor Don Fr[ay] Miguel Fernandez Bishop of Marcopolis, Apostolic Administrator of Quito.” Fernandez never actually assumed that position, as he was reassigned to Seville as Archbishop.
The seeming neutrality and directness of Goya's image reveals little about the personal circumstances of Fernandez or the turbulence faced by Catholic clergy during this period: a popular but unsuccessful revolt against the Spanish army resulted in the previous bishop fleeing Quito, at a time when Spain was fighting its own war of independence against Napoleon.ProvenanceVivaldi, the painter, at Seveille; then the Collection of Don Enrique Salazar at Bilbao; then Marquis de a Vega; then V.G. Fischer Art Galleries, New York, NY; then sold to the Worcester Art Museum.On View
On view
