The White Duchess The White Duchess The White Duchess is a life sized (192 x 128 cm) oil-on-canvas painting by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya, completed in 1795 and now in the collection of the Duchess of Alba, Madrid. It portrays María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba, and is one of a number of portraits Goya painted of her around this time, and is usually compared alongside the similarly sized but tonally very different "Black Duchess", which was painted two years later, just after her husband, José Álvarez de Toledo died aged 39. The duke and duchess were highly placed, cultivated
Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba Cathedral by Msgr. Carlos Amigo Vallejo where the Royal Family were represented by the Infanta Elena. Cayetana's patriline is the line from which she is descended via her father's direct male lineage, father to son. Patrilineal descent is the principle behind membership in Ducal Houses, as it can be traced back through the generations – which means that Cayetana's "historically accurate" House name is FitzJames-Stuart. Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba María del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva, 18th Duchess of Alba, GE, OIC, OSH, DOA, OAX, OSG, OPC (28 March 1926 – 20 November 2014), was head