The piece of paper the sitter holds reads, “The Duke of Osuna, by Goya.” Don Pedro de Alcántara Téllez-Girón, ninth Duke of Osuna, together with his wife, was one of Goya’s most important patrons. Only the royal family ordered more works from the Spanish artist than this distinguished nobleman, who commissioned more than 24 paintings for his country palace outside Madrid.

The duke was Lieutenant General of the Armies and later ambassador to the Viennese court. As a patron of the arts and letters, he was appointed to the Royal Spanish Academy, and in 1795, King Charles IV conferred on him the Order of the Golden Fleece. Dressed simply but elegantly in this portrait, he stands against a plain dark background. He does not wear the Golden Fleece—perhaps Goya made this picture slightly earlier than 1795, or maybe the Duke commissioned a more informal portrait.

The Duke and his wife, María Josefa de la Soledad Alonso-Pimentel y Tellez Girón, who was in her own right the Countess-Duchess of Benavente, were a sophisticated and enlightened couple. Their family portrait by Goya shows them as progressive and unceremonious parents, who sought to create a familial environment with their children, following the contemporary theories of French philosophers like Rousseau.