Appendix 2: Court Painters during the Reign of Carlos IV

Tomlinson, Janis A.

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Appendix 2: Court Painters during the Reign of Carlos IV

Janis A. Tomlinson

Goya in the Twilight of Enlightenment

~Francisco Bayeu (1734–1795)This list is based on a document from Madrid, Archivo General del Palacio (AGP), Sección Administrativo, Carlos III, legajo 3879. Also consulted were the personal files, or “Expediente personales,” of the named individuals in the same...

Author

Janis A. Tomlinson

PublisherYale University Press

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00060.011

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19624

Appendix 2: Court Painters during the Reign of Carlos IV

Francisco Bayeu (1734–1795)

•Appointed April 1767 at a salary of 24,000 reales.

•By May 1769 his salary increased to 30,000.

•By April 1790 his salary increased to 50,000 (the normal salary for a first court painter, although Bayeu was not awarded that title, which he had requested).

Mariano Maella (1739–1819)

•Honorary appointment: 18 February 1774.

•By November 1779 his salary was 24,000 reales.

•By April 1798 his salary was increased to 30,000.

•On 31 October 1799 he was awarded a salary of 50,000 reales plus 5,500 for a carriage and promoted, with Goya, to first court painter.

•Offered services to Joseph Bonaparte in 1809, resulting in a salary cut and effective dismissal from court upon the return of Fernando VII.

Francisco Xavier Ramos (d. 1817)

•Disciple of Mengs, protegé of Azara.

•Appointed court painter in July 1788 with salary of 15,000 reales, his main responsibility being to “methodically teach art to the youths sent to him in the Royal Academy.”

•Was appointed adjunct director of the Royal Academy in 1794; professor of color in 1812—a position he held until his death in 1817, when he was replaced by José de Madrazo.

•Among his known works is the portrait of Heinrich Pestalozzi. (Royal Academy, Madrid)

Eugenio Ximénez de Cisneros

•Painter who had served Carlos IV as principe, his title was changed to court painter in March 1789, two months after the accession of Carlos IV.

•Possibly because he painted miniatures, Ximénez’ salary was below the going stipend of 15,000. Having earned 7,300 reales (or 20 reales per day) from 1784, he was granted a salary of 10,000 in November 1790. Only on 19 October 1799 was he given the full salary of 15,000.

•Ximénez’ main project seems to have been a collection of miniatures after paintings in the royal collection (selected by Carlos) for the king’s pleasure house, or casita, at the Escorial. According to the artist’s own testimony, given in 1816 to the Royal Academy, these works were lost during the Napoleonic War. (Royal Academy archive, legajo 49–10/1)

Vicente Gómez (d. 1792)

•Appointed court painter and sworn in with Goya in April 1789.

•Gómez is best known for ceiling frescoes (that, according to his own description, imitate the groteschi of Raphael) in the casitas of the Pardo and the Escorial. He also painted in the royal palace of Madrid, although his designs there are today hidden by tapestries. (See Juan Junquera y Mató, “Los techos de las casitas del Principe y del Infante,” Reales Sitios 7, 1970, 28–40.)

Francisco Goya (1746–1828)

•Appointed royal painter (pintor del rey) in June 1786 with salary of 15,000.

•30 April 1789: salary remains the same, but title is changed to court painter (pintor de cámara).

•31 October 1799: With Maella, promoted to first court painter (primer pintor de cámara) with a salary of 50,000 reales plus 5,500 for carriage.

Francisco Folch de Cardona (d. 1808)

•Appointed June 1790 with salary of 15,000 reales as portrait painter of the court (pintor retratista de cámara).

•Painted group portrait of the royal family (now lost): see chapter 3.

Ramón Bayeu (younger brother of Francisco Bayeu; brother-in-law of Francisco Goya) (1746–1793)

•First appointed, with Goya, as royal painter (pintor del rey) in June 1786.

•In September 1789, he cites Goya’s promotion to court painter and requests a similar promotion, which was conceded only in April 1791.

•In May 1791, Francisco asks for a raise for his brother, on the basis of portraits done of the members of the royal family. The raise was granted, increasing Ramón’s salary to 20,000 reales.

Manuel Muñoz de Ugena (d. 1807)

•In May 1791 he requested title of court painter on the basis of engravings for the Flora Española and a mezzotint equestrian portrait of the king.

•Given an honorary appointment in May 1791, he was sworn in on 19 August 1795.

•Documented works include ornamental designs to decorate the audience chamber (Salón de Besamanos) of the queen in the royal palace. (See: Juan José Junquera y Mató, Decoración y mobiliario de los palacios de Carlos III [Madrid, 1979] 79.)

Josef Beratón (d. 1806)

•Appointed November 1792 with salary of 10,000 reales.

•He may well have owed his appointment to his connections with Francisco Bayeu. Like Bayeu and Goya, he was a native of Saragossa and had studied there in the studio of José Luzán. After arriving in Madrid he continued to study with Francisco Bayeu.

•One known work from his tenure at court is Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene in the Oratory of the Caballero de Gracia in Madrid (Arnaiz, Pintores de la ilustración, 239–40); records in the AGP also state that he was commissioned by Carlos IV to copy two paintings that the king had seen in the sacristy of the Cathedral of Segovia.

•The death of Francisco Bayeu enabled the royal house to increase Beratón’s salary to the going rate of 15,000 reales in August 1795.

Jacinto Gómez Pastor (1746–1812)

•Assistant to Andrés de Calleja in overseeing the royal collection, he first requested an appointment in May 1793 and was appointed royal painter (pintor del rey) with a salary of 15 reales per diem.

•Granted an honorary appointment as court painter in April 1793, he was finally granted a salary of 15,000 reales on 12 August 1795, with responsibilities of conservator of the royal collection (“con la obligación de continuar en el encargo de reparar las pinturas”).

•Requested pension for his son, Victoriano, in May 1803; a request that may have inspired Goya’s similar solicitation of a pension for his son on 7 July 1803, in return for his turning over the plates for Los Caprichos to the Royal Calcography.

Juan de Mata Duque y López

•Appointed court painter in August 1794 and given the 7,200 reales salary formerly assigned to Vicente Gómez.

•Like Gómez, Mata Duque was a decorative painter, who had painted at least one room in the Escorial (unidentified), the dome of the classical templete that stands in the gardens of the principe at Aranjuez, and several ceilings in the Casa del Labrador.

•His death occurred sometime between June 1820, when he requested permission to go to the baths of Trillo for health reasons, and May 1821, when his widow asked that his position be given to his son Ignacio. (Ignacio did not get the appointment but was commissioned to carry on his father’s work under the supervision of Juan Gálvez.)

Francisca Meléndez de Múzquiz (1770–1825)

•Niece of the still-life painter Luis Meléndez, she was the only woman to attain the rank of court painter under Carlos IV.

•Her known works include a miniature painting, of tempera on vellum, of the Virgin and child inscribed “She did me in Madrid, the year of 1790. Being 20 years of age.” (Royal Academy, Madrid)

•Admitted to the academy as a miniature painter in 1791.

•Appointed court painter and portraitist (apparently working in miniature) on 6 December 1794 with a salary of 6,000 reales; increased to 10,000 in August 1795 following the death of her husband. In October 1795 her salary was raised to the going rate of 15,000.

•In 1803, she requested financial assistance, since her landlord had requested that she leave her residence in forty days. She mentions that she has spent 8,000 reales in organizing a studio in the house to serve His Majesty—the only indication of the working conditions of court painters under Carlos IV.

•Her second husband, an officer, was killed in the siege of Saragossa. Upon the restoration of Fernando VII she was reinstated, with a salary of 15,000 reales.

•In February 1816 she asks to be placed in the service of the queen, “as she had been formerly.” This is the only documentation that she had served María Luisa rather than Carlos IV.

Luis Jappelli

•A Bolognese decorative painter active in the casita of the Escorial and the Casa del Labrador at Aranjuez, he was given an honorary position in September 1795, salaried with 7,200 reales in November 1796, and finally with 15,000 reales in 1807, following the death of Muñoz de Ugena. For extant works, see Juan Junquera y Mató, “Los techos de las casitas del Principe y del Infante,” Reales Sitios 7, 1970, 28–40.

Antonio Carnicero (1748–1814)

•He had requested an appointment as court painter on 26 April 1788 and on 26 May 1792. Both requests were denied.

•On 16 June 1793, he solicited (unsuccessfully) the position (made vacant by the death of Ramón Bayeu) of painter for the Tapestry Factory.

•Granted an honorary position as court painter on 25 April 1796, he would be salaried in February 1797.

•In December 1801 he was granted the position of drawing instructor to the prince.

Francisco Agustín (1753–1801)

•Director of the School of Fine Arts of Córdoba.

•Granted an honorary position on 4 June 1796, he would be salaried with 15,000 reales on 17 July 1800.

Mariano Sánchez (1740–1822)

•Commissioned by the prince of Asturias to paint views of Spanish ports in 1781, with a stipend of 20 reales per diem. He first requested a position as court painter in December 1791 (denied) and again in August 1792 (again denied).

•Awarded an honorary position in June 1796 but retained salary of 7,200 reales.

•Restored to service in 1814 at the same salary.

•His known works include The Port of Cartagena and The Inner Harbor of Cartagena. (Royal Academy, Madrid)

Carlos Domen (d. 1808)

•Given honorary position in April 1798; salaried with 15,000 reales in July of same year.

•Served as painter for the Royal Porcelain Factory.

Cosme de Acuña

•Appointed April 1798 with salary of 15,000 reales.

•For details of his career, see chapter 2, note 46.

Juan Theophil Holt de Tarnach (d. 1804)

•Appointed 22 September 1798 with salary of 15,000 reales.

•No personal data or documented works have come to light.

Juan Guillermo Jacobo Bauzil (1776–1820)

•A French miniature portraitist, he was appointed court painter in December 1797 with the salary of 15,000 reales. (See Mariano Tomás, La miniatura retrato en España [Madrid: Dirección General de Relaciones Culturales, 1953].)

Fernando Brambilla (d. 1832?)

•Appointed on 28 April 1799 as architect and decorative painter because of his work as a painter of perspectives and views, with a salary of 27,000 reales.

•His known works include a series of prints executed with Juan Gálvez documenting the ruins of Saragossa and a series of views of the royal residences, executed during the restoration.

Bentura Salesa

•Little is known of this artist, who was appointed in September 1799 with a salary of 15,000 reales. According to Viñaza (Adiciones al diccionario histórico de los mas ilustres profesores de las bellas artes en España [Madrid, 1889]) he was born in 1756, studied at the Royal Academy of Madrid, and was pensioned in Rome. Returning to Spain in 1800, he was named court painter. He subsequently became the director of painting at the Academy of San Luis in Saragossa.

Agustín Esteve (1753–1820)

•Appointed 14 June 1800 with a salary of only 6,000 reales, given the financial situation of royal treasury at this time.

•Documents suggest his role as copyist of portraits: the correspondence of María Luisa cites him as a copyist of portraits by Goya (see chapter 3), and a document of August 1800 refers to copies of six paintings of Their Majesties and the Princes of Parma for which his expenses totaled 1,940 reales.

Zacarías González Velázquez (1763–1834)

•Granted honorary position on 12 August 1800 and a salary of 15,000 reales in July 1802.

•Assisted Maella in painting ceilings in the Casa del Labrador and would subsequently work independently on the ceiling of the sculpture gallery in that palace and on the landscapes for the Sala de Yeguada.

Josef Camarón y Meliá (1760–1819)

•Attained honorary position on 8 July 1802; granted salary in May 1805.

•Having served as director of the gallery of painting at the Royal Porcelain Factory, he was assigned the task in 1805 of drawing paintings in the royal collection (to be selected by Carlos IV) for engraving.

•Cleared of any political misconduct in September 1817.

HONORARY POSITIONS

Presumably because of the increasingly dire situation of royal finances, several (for the most part little-known) artists were given the honores of court painter but never received a salary under Carlos IV. Among them were:

•Domingo Alvarez, director of the School of Drawing in Cádiz (January 1795).

•Antonio Martínez, artist of a series of drawings for a compendium of the Bible (May 1802).

•Vicente López, to become first court painter under Fernando VII (December 1802).

•Manuel Peñar (July 1805).

•Josef Bouton, a French miniaturist (November 1805).

•Antonio Boudeville, illustrator of a Viaje pintoresco de España (September 1806).

•José López Enguídanos, an academician represented at court by still-lives approximating the style of Meléndez (October 1806).

•Antonio Poza y Muñoz, a portraitist (March 1807).

•Ignacio Uranga (October 1807).

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This list is based on a document from Madrid, Archivo General del Palacio (AGP), Sección Administrativo, Carlos III, legajo 3879. Also consulted were the personal files, or “Expediente personales,” of the named individuals in the same archive. The list follows the chronology of appointments made.

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