María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba the House of Osuna. The Duchess' relationship with famed Spanish painter Francisco Goya and her somewhat eccentric personality have contributed greatly to a continuing interest in her life during the two centuries since her death. Goya executed several well-known portraits of the duchess, most of them during his stay at Sanlúcar de Barrameda (one of the Andalusian country seats of the House of Medina-Sidonia), shortly after the death of her husband, the Duke of Alba, who was also Duke of Medina Sidonia, in 1796. Goya's accompaniment of the recently widowed Duchess combined with certain innuendo expressed in his portraits of
House of Alba city of Granada. During the 16th century, Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, was given the title of governor general of the Spanish Netherlands. The third duke's first cousin was Doña Eleonor de Toledo, who married Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Through her granddaughter Marie de' Medici, Queen of France, she became the ancestor of many crowned heads and heirs apparent of Europe. Her descendants include Juan Carlos I of Spain, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. In 1802, María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba, died without