Don Andrés del Peral
- Artist: Francisco de Goya
- Date: before 1798
- Medium: oil on wood
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is "Don Andrés del Peral" by Francisco de Goya. Painted in the late 18th century, it's a portrait of a man who was not only a friend and contemporary of Goya's but also an accomplished gilder for the royal court in Madrid. You can see him sitting proudly on a simple chair, looking out at us with a penetrating stare.
Goya shows Peral as he really was - with a receding hairline and grey hair. His facial droop suggests that he may have suffered a stroke, but his expression is not just one of sadness. There's also something almost...sneering about it, don't you think? The way he places his left hand on his hip and tucks the right into his waistcoat is a gesture commonly found in portraiture at this date.
Take a look at Peral's silvery coat - the luxurious sheen Goya has captured is just incredible. And the striped waistcoat decorated with flowers beneath it...the way those flowers are painted with swift strokes of blue pushed into the still wet paint of the fabric is masterful.
See it in person
Don Andrés del Peral hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
