Ramón Pignatelli
Ca. 1878. Oil on canvas.On display elsewhere
This drawing depicts Ramón Pignatelli Moncayo y Aragón (Zaragoza, 1734–1793). His father was Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, Count of Fuentes, and Grandee of Spain. His mother was the Marquise of Mora. He had family ties with Aranda and Villahermosa. When he was young, he travelled around Italy (Naples and Rome) and studied canonship and obtained his doctorate in Zaragoza, becoming a canon in 1753. He was also rector of the University of Zaragoza (1762–1793). He was a great entrepreneur and supported all the enterprises that aimed to modernise the city. He reformed and modernised the Real Casa de Misericordia, constructing a new building and installing draperies to defray expenses. He also created the bullring Plaza de toros of Zaragoza. He was an ardent promoter of the Royal Society of Friends of the Country (1776). He was an outstanding builder and engineer of the Imperial Canal of Aragon. His habit bears the cross of the Order of Charles III.
Díez, José Luis (dir.), Pintura del Siglo XIX en el Museo del Prado: catálogo general, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2015, p.312-313
