This warm and intimate portrait suggests the friendship that existed between Goya and his sitter who moved in the same liberal, intellectual circles of enlightened men known as ‘ilustrados’. Melendez Valdes was eight years Goya’s junior. He may well have met the artist at Saragossa in 1790 when he was a judge there. The portrait was possibly painted in the late spring or summer of 1797, when Valdes was disappointed to not secure the post of Public Prosecutor in April that year. It would certainly explain the melancholic expression on his face. However, 1797 remained an important year for Valdes, since the publication of the first important collected editions of his poems came out in April, while he was appointed Prosecutor to the Municipal authorities in Madrid in October.

Provenance: Private collection

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: Francisco de Goya (1746–1828)
Date: 1797

Image Details
Date: 7 Feb 2025
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Telephoto Camera 52mm ƒ/2.4
Focal Length: 52mm
Aperture: ƒ/2.4
Shutter Speed: 1/33s
ISO: 640
Licensing: Image of a Bowes Museum asset. This image cannot be licensed.