The Black Duchess The Black Duchess The Black Duchess (also Mourning Portrait of the Duchess of Alba or simply Portrait of the Duchess of Alba) is a 1797 oil-on-canvas painting by Spanish painter Francisco Goya. The Duchess in the painting is María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba, then 35 years old. It is a companion piece to the more chaste "The White Duchess", completed two years earlier. In this work, de Silva is dressed in low cut "Maja" clothing. She probably agreed to this depiction in that it might show her as a "woman of the people". , the painting has
James Roberts (painter) was the reason her father agreed to sit for Roberts, that the result was uncharacteristic, and that the book shown was a novel. Roberts was also a scene painter at Blenheim Palace, in 1788 and 1789. In 1789 he was designer for "The Maid of the Oaks", and "False Appearances". a translation by Henry Seymour Conway of "Trompeurs Dehors" by Louis de Boissy. By 1795, Roberts had an appointment as portrait painter to the Duke of Clarence. He exhibited again annually at the Royal Academy from 1795 to 1799. The National Portrait Gallery, London holds 52 portraits by Roberts or