Manuela Tolosa y Aviñón
1785 - 1788. Oil on canvas.Not on display
This is a portrait of Manuela María Teresa Cayetana Tolosa y Aviñón (Madrid, 11 July 1740–Madrid, 7 December 1797), the second wife of the painter Antonio González Velázquez, whom she married on 8 April 1745. At least eight children were born of their marriage, including the author in this portrait. Undoubtedly, despite the slight differences in size, there was a desire to pair this portrait with that of the painter Antonio González Velázquez (P007460), also attributed to Zacarías González Velázquez.
The lady’s headdress, made up of strings of glass beads and natural flowers, is arranged over a powdered hedgehog hairstyle. Her splendid dress, adorned with dungarees and cuffs of muslin, together with the medallion hanging from her neck – which shows two doves and two hearts joined together, probably symbolising conjugal love – express not only a notable social position, but also the desire to ennoble her, which contrasts with the simplicity of the chair, typical of a more bourgeois environment. It is also paradoxical that her figure is half-covered by a cloak, tablecloth or cabriole, trimmed with fox fur, while her right hand holds a closed fan and her dress is finished off with sleeves at the elbow. (Text drawn from Pintura del Siglo XIX en el Museo del Prado: Catálogo General [19th-century painting in the Museo del Prado: General Catalogue], Museo del Prado, 2015, p. 239, and Últimas adquisiciones: 1982–1995 [Recent acquisitions: 1982–1995], Museo del Prado, 1995, p. 50).
