The Spanish Romantic artist Francisco de Goya is also known for his portraits of aristocrats. The court painter created a gallery of images of the Spanish nobility. The most popular are his female portraits. Goya’s women are always mysterious, despite the detailed study of clothes and accessories, there is always a lot of unsaid in their appearance. Such is the “Portrait of Countess Carpio, Marquise de la Solana”.

Against the conditional dark background, common for Goya’s portraits, the slender figure of the countess clearly looms. She is dressed in a strict black dress and wrapped in an airy light shawl. Between her and the viewer there is an insurmountable psychological barrier, erected by an arrogant model and masterfully conveyed by the artist. But the image of this proud aristocrat seems lonely and tragic. The background, on which several vague plans that go into the distance, gives rise to a feeling of something fatal, mysterious and inevitable in her personality. The painting entered the Louvre in 1952.