Portrait of Don Juan Antonio Cuervo
Francisco de Goya
1819
This portrait both testifies to Goya’s friendship with Cuervo and presents the sitter as a cutting-edge intellectual. Director of the Royal Academy of San Fernando, the official academy for artists and architects in Spain, Cuervo appears with his plan for the recent renovation of Madrid’s Church of Santiago. The jacket with red and gold brocade identifies him as a member of the academy.