The Museo del Prado is presenting the Portrait of Manuela Isidra Téllez-Girón, future Duchess of Abrantes, painted in 1797 by Augustín Esteve y Marqués and recently acquired for the Museum with funds from the Óscar Alzaga Villaamil donation. The portrait is considered Esteve’s finest work in this genre as well as one of the most striking depictions of children in 18th-century Spanish art. It will be displayed alongside other portraits of the 9th Duke of Osuna, the Duchess and their children painted by this Valencian artist.

The challenge of white, which brings together some of Esteve’s most important works from the Museo del Prado’s holdings and from various private collections, also includes the remarkable portraits that Francisco de Goya produced of the same members of the Osuna family. The exhibition remains on display until 1 October in Rooms 37 and 38 of the Villanueva Building.

The recent addition to the Museum’s collection of Portrait of Manuela Isidra Téllez-Girón, future Duchess of Abrantes by Augustín Esteve y Marqués, acquired with funds from the Óscar Alzaga Villaamil donation, will allow for greater knowledge of this interesting painter who was in his day considered the finest court portraitist after Francisco de Goya. This work completes the Alzaga donation, which was accepted last March and comprises six important paintings plus funding for the acquisition of a seventh.