Portrait of Doña Antonia Zárate (1805)
The Portrait of Doña Antonia Zárate is a c.1805 portrait of the actress Antonia Zárate by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya. It was probably produced by Goya in his studio, where an 1812 inventory mentions there were eight yellow damask chairs and an associated divan. She wears a black silk dress in the Empire style, then fashionable in Spain, with her arms covered by fingerless white gloves, her hands holding a closed fan and a mantilla on her head and shoulders. The painting may also have been the source for the 1810-11 portrait of her by Goya or his studio.
The work remained in the Zárate family until at least 1900, when it was put on show in Madrid and stated to be owned by Doña Adelaida Gil y Zárate. It was bought in London by Sir Otto Beit, who exhibited it at Russborough House and bequeathed it to his son Sir Alfred Beit. It was stolen from Russborough House in 1974 and 1986. A year after the second robbery it was nominally donated by Beit to the National Gallery of Ireland, though it was only recovered from the thieves in 1993.
Bibliography
- Sara Donaldson, National Gallery of Ireland, Companion Guide, Londen, 2009 p. 15