Rob Horgan
A PORTRAIT by one of Spain’s most famous artists is causing a stir at London’s National Gallery.
Goya’s painting of Ronda lady Doña Isabel de Porcel has long been heralded as one of the Old Master’s greatest… but now there are doubts about its true origins.
Scholars in England’s capital discovered that beneath the portrait of Porcel lies another painting.
“There is no doubt that this is a great painting, painted with masterful flair,” a National Gallery spokesman said.
“The portrait’s brushwork and the hidden painting beneath are the main points of controversy.”
A painting of a man wearing a striped jacket was found beneath the portrait when the painting was x-rayed following scholarly sceptics.
Experts are now looking into the portrait’s history, thought to have been painted in 1805, to determine if it truly is a Goya.
The work is part of a major 70-piece retrospective currently on display in London.
