Thérèse Louise de Sureda

Thérèse Louise de Sureda, painted by Francisco Goya between 1803 and 1804, is a powerful oil on canvas portrait depicting the wife of the Catalan engraver Bartolomé Sureda y Miserol. Executed during Goya’s tenure as the leading court painter in Madrid, this work reflects the shift in Spanish portraiture toward greater psychological depth and individualized representation during the period spanning 1801 to 1825.

The subject is presented in an elegant and assured manner, standing before a muted, shadowy background that enhances the luminosity of her figure. Thérèse Louise wears a high-waisted white muslin gown, a style popularized across Europe during the early nineteenth century. Her vibrant red shawl, draped expressively around her shoulders and arms, serves as a crucial compositional element, guiding the viewer’s eye and demonstrating Goya’s command of color contrasts.

Goya’s technique is characterized by meticulous detail in the rendering of the sitter’s face and jewelry, offset by broader, more rapid brushstrokes used to define the textures of the fabrics and the ambient space. This masterful handling of the medium imbues the portrait with both formality and intimacy. The canvas captures the sitter’s direct and unwavering gaze, a hallmark of Goya's late portraiture that distinguishes his subjects from the more idealized representations common in previous eras.

This piece, Thérèse Louise de Sureda, is considered a superb example of Goya’s transition toward Romanticism, capturing the essence of the Spanish cultural moment. It resides today in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., where it serves as a cornerstone of the museum's European painting holdings. As this important work is widely celebrated, high-quality prints are often utilized for educational purposes through various public domain initiatives.