Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zúñiga facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zúñiga
Artist	Francisco Goya
Year	1787–88
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	127 cm × 101.6 cm (50 in × 40.0 in)
Location	Metropolitan Museum of Art

Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zúñiga is a famous oil portrait. It was painted in 1787–88 by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya. The painting shows a young boy, about three or four years old. He is wearing red clothes and is surrounded by birds and cats. People often call this painting Goya's "Red Boy". An art expert named Claus Virch once said it was "one of the most appealing and successful portraits of children ever painted." This special painting has been at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York since 1949.

History of the Painting

This painting was ordered by Manuel's father, Vicente Joaquín Osorio de Moscoso y Guzmán. He was a very important person in Spain with many titles. He was also a director at the Banco de San Carlos. Goya painted several important people from this bank between 1785 and 1788.

Goya became a painter for the Spanish royal family in 1786. He first worked for King Charles III. Later, he continued as the court painter for King Charles IV starting in 1789.

Manuel's father, Altamira, asked Goya to paint several family portraits. This painting, from 1787–88, shows Manuel, who was his youngest son. Manuel was born in April 1784 and sadly passed away at age eight in 1792. Goya also painted other members of the Altamira family. He painted another of Manuel's brothers, Vicente Isabel, and his mother, María Ignacia, with her baby daughter, María Agustina.

What the Painting Shows

Manuel is dressed in a fancy red silk outfit. It has a white collar and cuffs. He also wears a shiny silver sash and white shoes with bows. He holds a string tied to his pet magpie. The magpie has a small paper in its beak, which looks like Goya's own visiting card.

To Manuel's left, you can see a cage filled with finches. On his right, three cats are watching the magpie very closely. Manuel's pale face and bright red clothes stand out against the plain, dark background.

Journey of the Artwork

The painting first hung with other family portraits in Altamira's palace in Madrid. Later, it was sold at an auction in Paris in 1878. A famous playwright named Henri Bernstein bought it before 1903. He even used parts of the painting for the stage design of his 1924 play.

In 1925, Bernstein sold the painting to an art dealer named Joseph Duveen. A woman named Kathryn Bache Miller saw the painting in Paris in 1926 and loved it. Her father, Jules Bache, then bought it for $160,000. The painting was a very special part of her living room. Her interior designer, Billy Baldwin, said she treated it like a living person.

Jules Bache gave the painting to the Metropolitan Museum of Art when he died in 1944. The museum officially received it in 1949. However, Kathryn Bache Miller was allowed to keep the painting in her apartment sometimes until she passed away in 1979.

From April to August 2014, the Metropolitan Museum of Art held a special exhibit. It brought Manuel's portrait together with paintings of his parents and two brothers and sister. This allowed visitors to see the Altamira family portraits all in one place.

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  Goya's portrait of Vicente Joaquín Osorio de Moscoso y Guzmán, 1787. This painting is in the Bank of Spain.

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  Goya's portrait of the Countess of Altamira and her Daughter, 1787–88. This painting is also at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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  Goya's portrait of Vicente Isabel Osorio de Moscoso, conde de Trastámara, 1786–87. He was 9 or 10 years old. This painting is at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

See also

• List of works by Francisco Goya