The Duke and Duchess of San Fernando de Quiroga, in front of a landscape
Ca. 1832. Oil on canvas.Not on display
Portrayed in this work are the first Duke and Duchess of San Fernando de Quiroga. The Duchess, María Luisa Fernanda de Borbón y Vallabriga (1783–1846) was the daughter of the morganatic marriage of the Infante Luis Antonio de Borbón y Farnesio, brother of Charles III, and Teresa de Vallabriga y Rozas. She was therefore the sister of Luis María, Archbishop of Toledo, and of María Teresa, 15th Countess of Chinchón, and wife of the favourite of the King, Manuel Godoy. His sister’s marriage meant her rehabilitation in the Bourbon family, on the occasion of which she recovered her father’s surname, her status as Infanta of Spain recognised and she was included in the Order of the Noble Ladies of Maria Luisa.
She is depicted with her husband, Joaquín José Melgarejo y Saurín (1780–1835), 2nd Marquis of Melgarejo and 1st Duke of San Fernando de Quiroga, a Knight of the Order of Calatrava. His proximity to the royal family earned him the insignia of the Orders of Charles III and the Golden Fleece. He was recognised as a meritorious citizen of the country for his actions during the French invasion and was appointed State Councillor by Ferdinand VII as well.
The course of the couple’s life was marked by their kinship with the royal family and with the minister of Charles IV. Nevertheless, their sympathy to the liberal cause led them into exile in France during the most radical period of Ferdinand´s reign.
They were familiar with the art scene, from Goya to Rosario Weiss through Solá and Salvatierra, and were collectors and promoters of art, amassing a collection that is still not well known. Among the works in the collection was a large-format portrait of the couple by Rafael Tegeo, documented in the inventory of the Duke´s estate drawn up in 1835 on his death. Its description matches that of the present work, except that, in Tegeo´s large-format portrait, the sitters are posed inside a drawing room, whereas in the present work they are depicted in a landscape. However, the description does match with that of another Tegeo work located in Museo del Prado (P004660).
The creative process that culminated in this work can be traced to the existence of a large double portrait by Rafael Tegeo, but the whereabouts of this work are unknown. However, the artist himself painted a smaller version of it, altering only the landscape setting (P005975). The Duke and Duchess also commissioned from Tegeo a reduced copy of the original portrait by the painter Rosario Weiss (P004660), as the captions of the prints reproducing the work on paper and other archival evidence show. This would explain the stylistic differences between the two small portraits.
Sánchez del Peral, Juan Ramón, 'Rafael Tegeo. Los duques de San Fernando de Quiroga (h. 1833).' En:. Barón, J.: El retrato español en el Prado. De Goya a Sorolla, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2007, p.98, n. 21
